


Melt Your Headaches

by Hey_Moon, RyanWantsMilk



Category: Panic! at the Disco
Genre: Awkward Waitresses, Characters Reading Fanfiction, Cigarettes, Drunken Kissing, Fluff, M/M, Medication, Pretty. Odd. Era, Recreational Drug Use, References to the Beatles, Teasing, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-09 08:43:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15263709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hey_Moon/pseuds/Hey_Moon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyanWantsMilk/pseuds/RyanWantsMilk
Summary: Based off a 1x1 RP with Hey_MoonThe making of Pretty.Odd.





	1. Chapter 1

Brendon took off his headphones after he'd finished recording the main vocals for the first song, _We're So Starving_ , for the upcoming album, _Pretty.Odd._ He glanced at Ryan from across the studio and smiled, hoping to catch his attention.

Ryan had been fidgeting with his guitar, sitting next to the sound system and trying to figure out a little tune.

"Ryan?" The manager murmured.

Ryan was lost in thought.

"Ryan." The man said again.

Ryan looked up.

"How's it sound?" The manager asked.

Ryan blinked a few times, momentarily abandoning the mundane activity and looking over at Brendon. "Perfect." He replied. He gave a small grin.

After the manager had walked away, Brendon walked towards Ryan. He sat on the chair next to him, still smiling a little bit. "Got anything good?" He said, gesturing at Ryan's guitar.

"Kinda, yeah." Ryan said softly and then started with the little beginning riff of Behind The Sea. He did it a couple times over and hummed a bit to the tune just to get the gist of it. "What do you think?" Ryan inquired, looking to Brendon for approval.

Brendon smiled again, giggling a little. "I love it, reminds me of The Beatles." He brushed the back his hand against Ryan's briefly, not knowing if he was in a good mood or not.

"Kind of the point." Ryan nodded, then set the guitar aside, making a mental note to tab the riff later. He knew to remember it. "You sounded good up there." He complemented, shifting his hand a little closer to Brendon's, taking the hint that holding hands would be nice right about now.

"Thanks man." Brendon replied, blushing and trying to hide it. He looked at Ryan's hand, which was noticeably closer to his own. Still looking at it, he slid his hand on top of Ryan's and pet it with his thumb. "I was thinking," He bit his lip nervously. "Nobody really knows about us besides Jon and Spencer. And I'm not ready to tell the public, but..." He squeezed Ryan's hand a little bit, "I can't keep bottling up my feelings. I think we should put metaphors into some of the songs, just nothing too obvious."

"I know, Bren. I know." Ryan purred. "Trust me, I'm already on it. A hint here and there. But we can't be too forward, not yet..." He warned, trying to interlink their fingers and caress Brendon's hand.

Brendon entwined his fingers with Ryan's. "Alright," He said, with a relieved grin. "It's the sun and moon references isn't it?" He looked at Ryan, leaning closer.

"It's whatever you want it to be." Ryan said with a smug little grin, mirroring Brendon's action. "Don't you know? You're my sunshine." He said, giving Brendon's hand a slight squeeze.

He knew Ryan was being cheesy, but he loved that about him. Without any words in response to the metaphor, Brendon put his head on Ryan's shoulder and mumbled lyrics he'd found written down on a paper in the studio. _"When the moon fell in love with the sun..."_

 _"All was golden when the day met the night."_ Ryan mumured softly and wrapped his arms around Brendon, pulling him into a loving embrace. He pet his hair and pat his back. "But the moon isn't quite as beautiful as you are. Still, it will have to do." Ryan kissed Brendon's cheek. "I love you, baby."

Brendon giggled happily in response to the contact, gladly returning the favor, burrying his face into Ryan's shoulder. "God, I love you too." He gripped the fabric on the back of Ryan's shirt for a second, before releasing from the hug and returning to his place on Ryan's shoulder.

Ryan sighed softly and rubbed Brendon's back. He just held him for a few minutes before speaking again. "Not to kill the mood or anything, but I'm starving - no pun intended - I think we should get something to eat." Ryan suggested.

Looking up at the clock, Brendon agreed. "I could go for some Subway." He stood up, straightening out his bright red shirt, that he totally didn't steal from Ryan, and grabbed the keys to their Volkswagen van. "Anything specific you wanted?" He asked Ryan.

"Again, you're wandering around in my head." Ryan chuckled and stood up, stretching out and brushing his curly brunet hair out of his eyes. "Probably the Italian sub. Like usual." He said.

Brendon smiled, "I figured." He jangled the keys a little, trying to contain his energy. "You coming with? I have to stop by the pharmacy to get my prescription after, but it should only take 5 minutes."

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, of coarse." He said, starting towards Brendon, then pausing for a moment and grabbing his newsboy hat. He put it on and then shuffled over to Brendon. "I'm ready to go." He said eagerly.

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, of course." He said, starting towards Brendon, then pausing for a moment and grabbing his newsboy hat. He put it on and then shuffled over to Brendon. "I'm ready to go." He said eagerly.

"Sweet." Brendon said, opening the back door and walking out. He unlocked the car and started it. He was then greeted by _Here Comes The Sun_ by The Beatles playing on the radio. He looked at Ryan and grinned, hopping in the car.

Ryan chuckled. "Of course." He said in amusement, climbing into the passenger seat, closing the door and digging around under the seat to find his sunglasses. "Either the van is excited to see you or The Beatles have been sacrificed for our success in Panic!" Ryan mused aloud, then laughed.

Brendon pulled down the sun visor and said in response, "I don't think the van cares about me, it's just so happy you're here it decided to play our song." He began singing along at the top of his lungs as he pulled out of the driveway and drove out of the neighborhood.

"Subway's up past that grocery store on Jefferson right?" Brendon asked, stopping at a red light.

"Yup. The same place it's been for the past six years." Ryan nodded, then pondered in deep thought. "It seems like all around here the classic restaurants have been driven out by the chain fast food. When I was a kid, it was a restaurant with grills and taps. Used to go there all the time." He rubbed the slight fuzz on his chin and stared out the window.

"You know my memory sucks." The light turned green and Brendon turned left onto Jefferson street. "It was always fast food in Vegas, but I can see how you'd be disappointed." Brendon sighed a little "Like when they replaced that one huge candy shop with a department store." He remembered going there as a child, and passing out with a lollipop in his mouth in the car. Brendon saw the green and yellow logo approaching.

Ryan scrunched up his nose as he lamented along with Brendon's nostalgia, although not really having anything to say about it.

Brendon pulled into the parking lot, rolled up the windows, got out, and waited for Ryan on the curb.

When they pulled up, Ryan climbed out of the van and accidentally straightened up a bit too fast, hitting his head on the van. He just blinked a few times and rubbed his head as he stepped away from the van. Then he closed the door and went over to Brendon. "Tall people problems." He murmured under his breath and shrugged it off, holding the door open for Brendon.

Brendon dramatically thanked Ryan making a scene as they entered, "Thank you kind sir!" He bowed and tipped his imaginary hat, catching the attention of the whole building. He laughed it off and walked over to the line.

Ryan facepalmed and madly blushed as Brendon made his dramatic entrance. Then he shuffled in awkwardly in mixed feelings of _no I am not with this guy and holy shit yes I'm with Brendon fuckin' Urie._ He stepped into line slightly behind Brendon instead of directly next to him. Ryan couldn't help it, but he always kind of got a little tingly sensation in his digits whenever Brendon would do something embarrassing or overly theatrical in public. Like when he'd strip down practically naked besides his undies in front of a crowd of two thousand people. But damn, Ryan loved him all the same and beamed inside, knowing this man is his boyfriend and so few knew it...

When it was their turn, Brendon stepped up to the register and ordered the sandwiches. He watched as the middle aged woman grumpily put salami on his sandwich. He payed for their meals and proceeded to exit the store, this time not dramatically. He whistled, "Here Comes the Sun" as he walked to the van, replaying the coincidence from earlier in his mind. He checked the time, 1:30 PM. "Ry, I'm just gonna get my prescription tomorrow, I'm hungry."

"Are you sure? If you're all out of your meds you're gonna need some more." Ryan said warily. "I'll drive, you can eat and then I'll just go in, grab it real quick." He suggested.

"That works," He said, glancing at Ryan happily. "Thanks." He hopped out of the driver's seat and pet Ryan's hair as he passed him, then got back in the passenger's seat and buckled his seatbelt. He took a bite of his sandwich, spilling lettuce on both his lap and the car, but ignoring it.

"No problem, Bren." Ryan said, feeling rather relieved. He buckled up in the driver's seat and started driving. "Which pharmacy is it?" He inquired as he pulled out of the parking lot. He also noticed Brendon's nice little mess out of the corner of his eye and shoved a few napkins in his direction.

"The CVS by the mall." Brendon said with his mouth still full. He took the napkins and scooped up the lettuce off of himself and the floor. He looked in the Subway bag for a straw and saw Ryan's sandwich. "Don't you want to eat your sandwich?"

Ryan head down the road, taking turns where need be. He turned on the radio and Bon Jovi was on. He cranked it down a bit so it wasn't so loud. "Yeah, give." He said in answer to Brendon, making grabby hands towards the bag in a slightly demanding manner.

Brendon reached into the bag again and unwrapped the sandwich about half way. "Manners first, mister." He said playfully before handing the food to Ryan.

"Pleeeeeeaaassseee?" Ryan sqeaked and claimed his sandwich. He steered with one hand and fed himself with the other. "Thanks, babe." He murmured as he sank his teeth into the savory Italian awesomeness that was his sandwich. He made a satisfied noise.

Though he hid it, Brendon was overwhelmed by how flawless Ryan seemed at times. "Why are you so adorable?" He said, laughing at the same time. He looked at Ryan lovingly, not expecting a response, just for the sake of seeing his face. He took a sip of sprite and continued to eat his sandwich, this time being careful not to spill the contents of it on himself.

Ryan swallowed down his food and snorted. " _Me? Adorable?_ Pfft." He chuckled a bit. "You're the adorable one, remember? You look like a damn puppy. Even twelve year olds fawn over how cute you are. I know. I've read the fics." Ryan retorted.

Brendon couldn't hide his blushing this time, he only hoped Ryan wouldn't notice. "Twelve year olds think you're adorable too, have you ever heard them screaming at the concerts?" He glanced over at Ryan, adding "You've read the fics... I've only heard about them and I don't plan on reading them."

"I'm just saying. At concerts the fans may scream at me too, but at least they're not saying _‘Ryan, take your pants off!’_ " He shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich. Then pondered a moment. "Dude... The fics are super creepy though." Ryan murmured, reflecting on having read some pretty creepy fics. He shuddered a bit.

"Maybe not, but how many times have you heard _'I LOVE YOU RYAN'_ from the crowd? A lot." Brendon took another bite of his sandwich. "I keep hearing about something called the _'Milk Fic'_. Any idea what the hell that is?" He looked at Ryan.

Ryan had been intently listening to Brendon and pondering as he was driving. Elvis was on the radio, he was eating his sandwich and all was well until the question was presented. He nearly choked on his sandwich. "Holy shit Brendon for the love of God, **_never_** mention the Milk fic ever again." Ryan growled. "That stuff gave me nightmares, jeez." He grumbled as he pulled up to the pharmacy parking lot, refusing to look at Brendon.

"Woah, sorry. Must be pretty bad." Brendon thought for a moment, going to take a bite of his sandwich, but realizing it was gone. "Our fans are pretty screwed up sometimes..." He crumpled up his trash and shoved it in his pocket. "Still love em' though." He patted Ryan's shoulder. "I'm done eating, I'll go ahead and go in to get my prescription."

"Okay." Ryan breathed and slumped in his seat as he shut off the engine. "Could you also grab some razors while you're at it? We're all out and I'm getting fuzzy." He suggested and started focusing on eating the remaining half of his sandwich.

"Of course." He leaned over to kiss Ryan's cheek. "Call me if you need anything else." He hopped out of the van, closing the door and strutted confidently into the pharmacy, spinning his keys around his finger by the ring connecting them.

As Brendon left, Ryan smirked a little from the lingering kiss. He wanted to be closer to Brendon, he really did. But he knew the fanfics were getting to him. Even when they'd go to bed together Ryan had become so much more shy about it, growing fearful because of all the horrendous things he'd read about in those stories. He wanted to think he was growing closer to Brendon. But they got harassed so much and it was getting him down. Maybe he needed to just forget it and start over. Look at Brendon as his lover, and not just two men forced together because of the idealism of teenage girls...

He loved Brendon, no doubt.

 _Yes, very much in love,_ Ryan pondered as he finished off his sandwich. _Yes, very much in love._


	2. Chapter 2

Brendon had picked up his meds from the counter, giving his signature and ID to the man at the register, then walked over to the hygiene section. He scanned the contents on the shelves for the razors Ryan preferred, and picked them up when he found them. He read the back just to make sure, since he was one to overlook things. He got lost in thought staring at the package, thinking about the album, and what 'hints' Ryan had said he put in the lyrics. He realized he'd been standing there, and blinked a few times. He proceeded to pay for the razors and thanked the clerk, before returning to the van.

Ryan bit his lip eagerly as Brendon came back out. He started up the engine and straightened up in his seat. "Wow Brendon you got so many things. Your arms must be so full." He teased and chuckled.

Brendon jokingly threw the razors at Ryan. He imitated a teenage girl. "Stop it you're so rude!" His cellphone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Spencer's calling, one sec."

Ryan grabbed the razors, chuckling and putting them down on the seat.

Brendon- Yo 
Spencer- Hey, are you with Ryan? 
Brendon- Yep, we got lunch and picked up my meds. Why? 
Spencer- Oh, ok. Well anyways I wanted to let you know you left the mic recording for like three hours. 
Brendon- Oh crap, it didn't mess anything up, did it? 
Spencer- Nothing's messed up, it's just gonna take probably just as long to delete. 
Brendon- God, sorry Spence. 
Spencer- It's alright man, just try not to do it again, wouldn't want to ruin the thing. I'll see ya when you get back. Brendon- Alright, bye. 


Brendon looked at Ryan, embarrassed. "I forgot to turn the mic off...”

When Brendon said the thing about the mics, Ryan immediately rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Leave it to you to have a three hour long recording with nothing in it. Trying to reinvent _The Sound Of Silence_?" He joked.

Brendon giggled at the remark, "We should put the three hour recording of nothing on the album to confuse people" He buckled his seatbelt, and said at a considerable volume "Onward!"

"It's alright, they're confused enough with our wacky eyeliner and intellectual lyrics." Ryan murmured thoughtfully and pulled out of the parking lot. "We're off like a herd of turtles... What time is it?" He muttered to no one in particular.

Brendon heard Ryan thinking out loud, and decided to answer. His phone read 2:54. "It's almost 3:00." He drummed with his fingers on the armrest out of boredom. "What do you need to do when we get back?" He inquired, not looking up from his armrest drum set.

"Just wanted to tab that riff I came up with. But I can do it later, I know the tune. Just gotta come up with some words for it." Ryan mumbled. Then he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. So he took out the old flip phone and handed it over to Brendon. "Could you see who's calling? I'm driving." He asked.  

Brendon nodded in acknowledgement, taking the phone. He opened it and saw 'No Caller ID'. Confused, he turned to Ryan and said "It's a blocked number, do you want me to answer?"

"It's Jon, probably." Ryan chuckled. "Yeah, answer it I guess."

Jon waited eagerly on the other side of the line, wondering if Ryan blocked him yet again.

Brendon grinned, remembering back to the times he'd prank called Jon. He pressed the green phone button and held the device to his ear.  
"Hello?"

Ryan hummed to himself a little tune as he was driving. He cranked down the radio so whoever was on the line could hear Brendon clearly.

_"Oh my god Brendon. Can you tell your asshole boyfriend to stop blocking me? It's driving me bananas trying to reach him." Jon complained._

Brendon laughed at Jon and moved the phone below his chin to let Ryan know. He said at a volume so that both Jon and Ryan could hear, "Hey ass boyfriend, Jon wants you to stop blocking him." He returned the phone to his ear. "What's up? We're on our way back from getting my prescription right now. Should be there in about ten minutes."

Ryan smirked and rolled his eyes. Jon, what a character.

_"Yeah well if you two don't get your little punk asses here in **exactly** ten minutes, you're as good as a burnt French fry. Mr. Manage-my-pants is furious." Jon said, alluding to the mics incident._

Brendon widened his eyes for a moment, remembering the mic. He sighed a bit, slouching in his chair. "Can't wait to deal with that... Guess I brought it on myself, though."

Ryan squinted a little bit as he came up to a stoplight and looked over at Brendon questioningly. What had he done wrong?

_"Yeah, well he's pissed. Be here ASAP before Spence takes the blame." Jon said half-jokingly and half-serious, then he hung up._

He looked at Ryan nervously. "Boss is mad about the mics." He chewed on his bottom lip.

Ryan dismissed it with a wave of his hand. "Don't even worry about it. I accidentally left my guitar on, too now that I come to think of it..." He murmured, then realised he was in for much more than he bargained for.

"We're both a mess sometimes," Brendon joked, nudging Ryan's shoulder. "Nobody can fix it, and that's fine." He smiled. It was a philosophy of his to always stay happy and not care what anybody else thinks. He hoped to pass it on to Ryan.

"We are the best kind of mess." Ryan added, putting his arm around Brendon and giving him a sweet his on his forehead. He pat him on the shoulder comfortingly as he pulled up to the studio. "We have arrived." He sighed softly as he shut off the engine.

"Well that was a nice break. Not sure if it was worth what we're about to hear, but it was nice." He reached to hold Ryan's hand as they walked into the studio, preparing for his berating. 

Ryan also climbed out of the van and shoved the keys in his pocket. He followed Brendon into the studio and held his hand. "It was a nice break." He agreed, then took a deep breath and went into the studio. Jon was there. He was not happy.

"Hi Jon..." Brendon looked around in search for their manager. He squeezed Ryan's hand, his anxiety starting to get to him.

"Took you long enough!" Jon hissed and furrowed his brows. " _We're So Starving_ just got leaked on MySpace. Care to explain?" Ryan gulped. "What?" He squeaked, squeezing Brendon's hand. "We only just finished it..."

Brendon raised his voice, "How the-" He looked at Ryan, confused and a little scared. "But I _just_ finished recording the vocals before we left!" He put his face into his hand, rubbing his forehead and pinching his nose.

"I call bullshit on that." Ryan said firmly and folded his arms. "Come see for yourself." Jon grumbled in frustration and gestured to the computer.

Brendon shuffled over to the computer and glanced at the screen. Sure enough, there was their song, displayed publicly. He cursed at the screen, clenching his fist a little. "Is there a way we can have it taken down?"

"Manager's on it now." Jon fussed. "It was hacked, but damn, couldn't you be a little more responsible?"

"It's my fault. I left the program open. All on me." Ryan said, taking the fall for Brendon. "Bren was the lungs, I should've been the brains. Big deal. At least the fans know we still exist and didn't just quit to be cavemen or something." He mused aloud.

Brendon looked at Ryan, wishing he would have said something before Ryan had a chance to. He also knew he wasn't the smartest person, but he could have at least remembered to quit the program. He walked away from the computer, trying to clear his mind. "Ok, we'll get it sorted out." Attempting to change the subject, he asked "What's going on with the mics?"

"The mics? It's fixed. And same with the guitar recording, Ryan." Jon said, all pissy. "Can you shut up? It was an accident." Ryan shot back at Jon. Then he heard a little ding from the computer. He looked over and saw the recording had disappeared. "See? All fine." He gestured to the computer. "By the way, where's Spencer?"

Brendon glared a little at Jon, but quickly remembered to try and keep positive. "That's fixed at least..." He ran his hand through his hair.

"You watch yourself, little punk." Jon mouthed to Brendon with a stern look.

Brendon resisted a witty remark and walked away from the chaos.

Spencer heard his name from the room over and made a quiet entrance. "Did someone call?" He had a drumstick in one hand, and drummed on his other.

"There you are." Ryan sighed softly. "I didn't happen to leave the drums on too, did I?" He asked worriedly.

Spencer set his drumstick on a desk and timidly laughed. "Luckily, the drums are fine. And so is the mic and the guitar. The recordings are gone." He glanced at the computer that had MySpace up. No doubt he was worried about how that was going to turn out, but he remained quiet instead. "We should be able to put this aside and keep working." He said after a moment.

"How did Fall Out Boy even sign us? We're just a bunch of dysfunctional children. All of us!" Jon huffed, raising his arms in exasperation.

"C'mon, Jon. We all know the only reason Pete noticed us was because Brendon was sassy enough for him. Thank Brendon that we even still exist." Ryan retorted, picking up his guitar and clicking out of MySpace.

Brendon denied being 'the reason' Pete reached out to them. "Pete didn't reach out to me, he reached out to us, as a band." He looked around at his friends. "Things like this happen, and it's an inconvenience but we can't give these people too much attention, because that's what they want."

Spencer nodded, beginning to become stressed out over the whole ordeal, and walked out of the room. He returned to continue working.

"Isn't the whole objective to give the fans what they want, though?" Jon inquired. "There's no success without a little bribery." _”I chime in with a havent you people ever heard of, shutting your goddamn mouth, no? It's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality."_ Ryan hummed to himself, glaring at Jon and plugging in his guitar.

"Of course, but I think, generally, that bands don't let people leak their songs." Brendon thought for a moment, "And if you're all about giving the fans what they want, why are you the one who's acting the most pissed out of all of us?"

Spencer could hear Brendon getting angry from the other room, and knew since that didn't happen often, that it probably wasn't going to be good.

Jon was definitely all worked up and ready to explode. He was about to open his mouth when-

"Jon, just let it go." Ryan sighed, sitting in his chair and staring at Jon. "Don't say anything. Just leave it. Just hush and leave it."

Brendon looked at Ryan, silently thanking him. He paced around the room, trying to clearing his mind. Despite his efforts, his chest felt tight and he needed to sit down and have a glass of water.

Jon grumbled under his breath and went over to the sound system, putting edits on the bass and cursing under his breath.

Ryan paused a moment and bit his lip. "You okay, B?" He asked softly.

Brendon looked up at Ryan, "Ya, anxiety's a little bad right now. I just need some water." He smiled at him, and got up to get a water bottle from the cooler.

"Remember, Brendon. Breathe." Ryan suggested. Then he grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil, starting to tab the riff he'd come up with. 

Brendon took a deep breath and opened the cooler. He saw alcohol and water. He resisted the temptation and grabbed the water. When he returned to the room he touched Ryan's shoulder while passing him, then took a seat at a computer. He began putting together the vocals for _Nine In The Afternoon_.

" _It's nine in the afternoon, your balls are the size of balloons-_ " Ryan sang to himself, then paused. "Oh god I just ruined that for everybody." He muttered.

Brendon looked over, "Ryan I heard that." He began laughing, and got up to mess up Ryan's hair.

Ryan laughed and blushed. "I don't know. Sometimes when I'm high then yeah, they can be... Y'know..." He chuckled and messed up Brendon's hair.

Brendon smiled and leaned on the back of Ryan's chair, looking over his shoulder at the tab. "That's the one you showed me earlier, right?"

"Sure." He took the guitar and plucked at it for a few minutes, experimenting with different chords, before playing a soft tune. "How's that?" He asked, taking the guitar strap off and standing the instrument up.

"I like that. What were the chords?" Ryan asked, jotting down a few he picked up on and trying to memorize the fillers.

"D, B minor, F-sharp minor." Brendon replied, standing up and leaning the guitar on the wall. "I was thinking that could go in the chorus."

Ryan nodded in agreement. _"The men all played along to marching drums. And boy, did they have fun. Behind the sea."_ he sang softly to himself and wrote down the words.

Brendon smirked at Ryan's singing, he knew Jon and Spence teased him about his vocal warmups, and realized he's never really complimented his voice before. "You should sing in all the songs." He said lovingly, touching Ryan's shoulder again.

Ryan chuckled and shook his head. "We already tried that, remember? It got vetoed. You're the voice of the band."

"But our voices go well together." He argued, “You've gotta take the lead in at least one song on the album." He looked over at the lyrics Ryan wrote down. "This would be a good one."

Ryan definitely blushed. He recalled when he once was the lead singer of the band. But they didn't get much attention. When Brendon stepped up things changed, they got more attention and he was much more vocally talented. It definitely had Ryan in doubt. "Maybe." He muttered.

"Hey," Brendon leaned closer to Ryan "Don't doubt yourself so much. We wouldn't have gotten anywhere without you." He kissed Ryan's cheek. "I'd be working in a smoothie shack singing 80's songs for old people if I never met you."

Ryan winked at Brendon. "We work well together." He conceded. Then he sighed, recalling that he was feeling kinda tired and bloated from those subway sandwiches.

Brendon took note of Ryan's sigh. "You alright?" He noticed he was beginning to feel a little better, talking to Ryan usually helped calm him down. He took another drink of water anyways, it was hot out.

Ryan nodded. "Tired." He murmured. "I haven't slept in a couple days." Ryan straightened his flannel shirt and sat up in his chair. He pressed the record button and put in the beginnings of _Behind The Sea_ for reference later.

Brendon made a pouty face to himself, feeling bad for Ryan. He waited for him to finish recording, then told him "Only a few more hours, then we can go home. I'm tired too."

Ryan nodded in agreement. He set his guitar aside for a moment and stood up, rubbing his eyes his eyes. "Are you guys ready to finish _Nine in the Afternoon_?" He inquired, going over to the cooler and grabbing a beer before going over and standing next to his area for recording.

"I think we could make it in one take." Brendon agreed, "For sure." He stood up, waiting for a response from Spencer and Jon.

Spencer replied from across the room, "Definitely."

"I guess." Jon groaned and plugged in.  
  
Ryan nodded and added all the input in the computer. " _Nine In The Afternoon_ , take 1 everybody." He announced, sitting back down with his guitar, taking a sip of his beer and readying himself.

Ryan clicked start on the computer, and began with his tune.  
  
Jon followed in suit with his bassline.

Spencer began his drumming as he heard the queue, the rhythmic pounding of piano keys.  
  
Brendon started singing soon afterward,  
" _Back to the street where we began, feeling as good as lovers can, you know..._ "

Ryan was strumming along to his part, Jon was playing along as well. They both sang into their mics for the backup vocals. " _It's just the end of the world!"_ They sang in unison.


	3. Chapter 3

Brendon listened to the final instrumentals in the song, and smiled as he remembered to turn off his microphone. He clapped and stepped away from the mic, taking off his headphones and setting them down. "Great job everyone!"

Spencer wiped sweat from his forehead and placed his drumsticks on the floor next to his stool.

Ryan sighed tiredly and nodded. "Three songs. Each in one take. You did great, all of you." He complemented. Then he looked over at Brendon with a sheepish smile.

"Are you sure the mics are off, Brendon?" Jon asked tauntingly as he put away his bass.

Brendon rolled his eyes, accepting he was an idiot, and laughed. He yawned and checked the time, glancing at the clock on the wall. "I. Am. Tired. I think I'm done for the day." He looked at Ryan hoping for approval. He wanted to go home.

Spencer playfully teased Ryan about his guitar, "You too Ryan. Wouldn't want six more hours of silence you guys." He tilted his head towards Brendon, then Ryan.

"Spence, we could literally have a recording of Brendon and Ryan moaning for thirty minutes straight on a six hour loop. It would sell out like summer." Jon retorted.

Spencer wheezed at the comment. Trying to hide his laughter, he put his hand over his mouth.

Ryan nearly choked on his last beer. "That escalated quickly." He breathed and looked over at Brendon. "Let's call it a day. I miss sleeping."

Brendon was slightly unsettled by Jon's remark, but also amused. "Well I think that's our queue to leave. Great job today everyone, see you guys tomorrow." He checked his pocket looking for the van keys, but didn't find them. "Ry, do you have the keys?"

Jon chuckled and stared over at Spencer, feeling quite satisfied with himself. "Maybe that could be an idea for the the next album." He mused.

Ryan shuffled around in his pockets and was kind of groggy as he handed Brendon the keys. "Jon I hate you." He muttered only half-serious. "Let's go, Bren."

Brendon took the keys out of Ryan's hand, silently agreeing with Ryan. He walked towards the door and held it open for his boyfriend, gesturing with his hand for Ryan to exit the studio.

Ryan smiled a bit sheepishly as he went out of the studio. When Brendon held the door open for him, he gave his boyfriend a brief peck on the lips, the scent and taste of alcohol was all over him... Then he went over to the van and struggled to open the door as he was a little dizzy and buzzed.

Brendon bit his lip and smiled following Ryan's unexpected kiss. He swiftly strode over to the van, putting his arm around Ryan. He held the passenger door for him, "How many doors do I have to open for you today?" He teased.

Ryan stared at Brendon for a moment, then proceeded to count on his fingers in a very disorganized manner. After a moment he finally held up two fingers. "So many." He groaned and clambered into the van, bumping his head yet again with a delayed reaction.

Brendon flinched at Ryan's clumsiness. He rubbed his head and sighed, closing the door for Ryan. He went over to the driver's seat and started the car, pulling out of the parking lot. He kept peeking over at Ryan as they drove, to make sure he was doing alright.

Ryan became curled up in his seat and he rested his head against his arm, leaning on the window. He yawned and closed his eyes after pushing his hair out of his face. "Can't wait for home. Shower. Sleep." He mumbled to no one in particular and became a little dozey.

Brendon glanced at the moon as he drove, thinking back to Ryan's lyrics. He looked over at Ryan, and reached his right hand over to rub his shoulder. He whistled a soft tune quietly, keeping himself distracted, but letting Ryan sleep. 

* * *

Brendon pulled up to the house, parking the van in the driveway. He wished he didn't have to wake Ryan, but he couldn't exactly carry him into the house. "Ry," He hummed softly, "We're home." He rubbed Ryan's arm, hoping to be as kind as possible to his tired partner.

Ryan was a bit delayed, but then responded. "Hm? What? Oh fuck did I fall down the rabbit hole again? Oh no, not the Mad Hatter!" He said urgently in his startled state. But then he looked around before looking back at Brendon. "Did we make it?" He asked, obviously a bit delusional.

Brendon chuckled at his drunken boyfriend, "We made it, you're not in Wonderland." He unbuckled Ryan's seatbelt for him, getting out of the car to help him out. He opened the door slowly, making sure Ryan wasn't still leaning on the door.

"Are you sure?" Ryan sighed and climbed out of the car with a grunt. "The floor is trippy, man."

"You had one too many, let's get you inside." Brendon put his arm around Ryan again, letting him lean on him for support. He guided Ryan to the door, and quickly unlocked it. Brendon stumbled into their house, reaching to flick on the lights. "Sorry it's bright, Ry."

"Blindness!" Ryan practically hissed and covered his eyes a bit, squinting and adjusting to the brightness of the room. "Am I dead? Is this heaven? Oh thank god you're in heaven with me. I thought we were going to hell oh Brendon we'll be so bored and are there dogs? I need another drink." He was definitely more drunk on sleep than actual beer.

Brendon comforted the delusional boy, directing him to their bedroom. "We're alive, I think you need to get some rest. Do you want any _water_ maybe? I don't think another beer is a good idea." He lead Ryan to the bed, using only the hallway as a source of light.

"Hm. I got a better idea." Ryan muttered thoughtfully, then turned and pressed his lips to Brendon's. He didn't even care that they were in the middle of the hallway. Love doesn't wait.

Brendon was caught off guard by the sudden change in mood, but gladly inclined to the action. Ryan's lips were soft, and molded perfectly with his own. He pulled his head back slightly, looking up into Ryan's seemingly glowing eyes. "I think we should go into the room now," He said, tugging at Ryan's flannel sleeve.

Ryan blinked a few times, feeling a bit elated from the sudden affectionate gesture. But he snapped back into reality. "Yeah." Ryan hummed breathlessly and placed a soft kiss in the corner of Brendon's mouth before he went into the bedroom. He was holding Brendon's hand as he did.

* * *

Brendon slowly came into consciousness, blinking his eyes a few times before taking a deep breath. He opened his eyes and looked around the room, realizing he was shirtless. He groaned a little and rolled over to see Ryan curled up under the covers facing away from him. Not quite ready to wake up yet, he scooted closer to Ryan and wrapped his left arm around him. He opened his eyes again and looked at his boyfriend's messy hair. He put his head against the back of Ryan's and closed his eyes again, though he was not planning on falling back asleep.

Ryan's side would rise and fall in steady breaths as he was in his sleep-dreaming state. He hadn't bothered to put clothes on, he'd just fallen right asleep. He subconsciously gave a low and satisfied hum when he felt Brendon come near to him. Ryan curled up a little more and buried his face in the pillow as he silently slept.

Despite Brendon's efforts to stay awake, he dozed off for a few minutes, and woke up to a string of drool on his pillow. He sat up carefully, making sure not to disturb Ryan, and wiped the saliva from his lips. He looked around the room and saw Ryan's outfit from the day before scattered about in various places. "What the hell..." He murmured, scratching his head. With his eyes still half closed, he got out of bed and went to the bathroom across the hall to take a leak.

Ryan had been sleeping pretty peacefully until Brendon left. Then he stirred a bit and rolled over onto his back. His arm landed on empty sheets that were still warm with the remnants of Brendon's body heat. But no Brendon. Ryan rubbed his eyes and opened them a bit. Very groggy and tired, but a little more in tune.

Brendon returned to the room, still in nothing but boxers, noticing Ryan was awake. "Good morning, Sunshine." He said in a raspy, tired voice. He stumbled back over to the bed and sat down at the edge, peering over his shoulder at Ryan.

"Hey." Ryan croaked out, slowly looking around the room and putting together how their night had gone. He sighed and looked back at Brendon. "C'mere." He said, patting the empty spot next to him, wanting to cuddle at least for a bit.

Brendon closed his eyes for a moment and smiled, rolling back next to Ryan. He leaned over slightly and moved a strand of hair out of Ryan's face. He kissed his forehead and rolled over again, putting his head against Ryan's. "What happened last night..."

Ryan closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Brendon, pulling him into a tight and warm embrace. "I dunno, B." He said, just below a whisper. But he knew. He didn't want to say it, he was drunk, but he knew.

"Probably for the better that we don't know." He felt warm as Ryan's skin pressed against his own. A chill ran down his spine, from how subtly perfect these moments seemed to be. He tried to remember anything from the night before, but the last thing he could recall was the scene in the hallway. He let go of it, and continued to cuddle the most perfect man he'd ever met.

Ryan gave Brendon a light squeeze and pulled the blankets up over them. He nuzzled into Brendon's neck and really wished he hadn't said that. But maybe it had to be said. Just this once. Ryan still felt all tingly inside, though. Were they in denial? Were they not in love? Ryan had no regrets about it. Even though he was sore and didn't want to move much, he was shameless.

Brendon looked at the wall with pictures of him and Ryan. He smiled to himself, remembering touring and the feeling of freedom. He took hold of one of Ryan's hands with both of his own, stroking it with a thumb. He felt Ryan's heart beat against him, making his own heart flutter a little.

Ryan breathed slow and easy as he felt Brendon's heart beat against him as well. He caressed Brendon's hand with his thumb and softly kissed his neck. "I love you." Ryan squeaked softly and opened his eyes. The room still carried the smell of the afterglow. It smelled like boys, sweat, warm and just _them_. To Ryan, it couldn't be more perfect.

Brendon smirked and tightened his grip on Ryan's hand. "I love you too. More than anything," He sighed. "I hope you know that."

Ryan smiled a bit and nodded, giving Brendon a soft and sweet kiss on the lips.

Brendon couldn't possibly get any closer to Ryan, but he tried anyways, shimmying over the mattress and messing up the sheets. It was the moments like this that meant everything to him. He let out a soft sigh of happiness.

Ryan chuckled a bit and pulled Brendon closer. He gently rubbed his back and nuzzled into him, enjoying the moment. He always loved the way Brendon looked. His fit and well-shaped body, his fluffy hair, his soft lips, his eyes, the piano tattoo on his arm... Ryan loved him. He loved _all_ of him. Brendon was his sun. The sun that he wished would always stay in the sky.

Brendon took in everything. Every time Ryan moved. He wanted to be able to remember this forever.

Ryan was almost tempted to fall asleep again, he felt so relaxed. But the sunlight was creeping in and it was the start of a new day. "What time is it?" He mumbled in his raspy morning voice. _I could totally go for coffee right about now,_ Ryan thought to himself. _And a morning shower._

Brendon opened his eyes again and looked across the room. "Eight thirty." He mumbled, "I'll make something to eat." He gave Ryan's arm one last loving rub before sitting up again. "Do you want any coffee?”

Ryan gave a small hum in agreement. He frowned a bit at the loss of Brendon next to him, but he knew he had to get up sometime. He was still a little dizzy and hungover, but not much.

Brendon got up and rubbed his eyes, looking around for a shirt to put on. He saw the bright red one he'd taken from Ryan that he wore yesterday. It had been flung carelessly onto the floor near the door. He picked it up and examined it, making sure it was presentable. Discovering that it was, he put it on and threw a lavender hoodie on over it. The red neck and bottom two inches of the shirt peaked out from under the jacket, but Brendon could care less. He slipped on a pair of jeans and a belt, and exited the bedroom, heading for the kitchen.

Ryan had watched Brendon get dressed and then go make breakfast. After that he sighed and sat up on the bed. He gave a slight grunt of discomfort, but he adjusted to it. He bit his lip and stood up, letting the sheet uncover him. He looked down at the bed and, seeing the stains, he internally reminded himself that he needed to wash the bedding. So he put on his pink underpants and a his jeans with the studded belt. Ryan opened the drawer in the dresser and pulled out a button-down shirt, doing it up only leaving the first few buttons on top unbuttoned. Then he pulled the sheets off the bed and took them to the washer down the hall. He was still in a bit of a haze, but he was coming out of it.

Brendon cooked fried eggs and bacon. He poured coffee for him and Ryan, adding the appropriate amount of french vanilla creamer to each cup. Before taking the food to the table, he reached into the medicine cabinet and put an Advil on Ryan's plate. He set the dishes down on the dining table, and went back to the kitchen to pour a glass of water for Ryan. He walked back to the bedroom and noticed the sheets were gone, leading him to go over to the washer. He turned the corner and saw Ryan putting their bedding in the machine. He tapped the wall and smiled, "I made breakfast."

Ryan was a little off-guard as he put the sheets in, then turned on the washer. After that he turned to Brendon, took note of what he said, then nodded. "Ooh. Smells good." He said, lifting his head a bit and followed Brendon into the dining room.

Brendon sat at the table and picked up a fork, placing a bite of eggs in his mouth. "There's an Advil on there for you. I figured you'd have a headache."

When Ryan sat down he was definitely a little confused staring at the pill on his plate. But Brendon explained and then he nodded. "Thanks." He mumbled, taking the Advil with a sip of coffee and then started on his eggs. "Mmm perfect. Thanks, B." Ryan smirked.

Brendon smirked at Ryan's thanks, looking endearingly into his eyes before taking a bite of bacon. He swallowed the food and asked, "What do we have to do at the studio today?"

Ryan finished off his eggs, had a few sips of coffee and nibbled on a bacon before speaking. "Hm... _That Green Gentleman, She Had The World_ , um..." Ryan hummed thoughtfully for a moment. He took another bite of bacon and swallowed. "And that new one. I think I've got some words for it, I just need to put it together.”

Brendon nodded, planning a mental schedule of what he had to do for the day. He touched his coffee to his lips briefly to make sure it wasn't too hot before taking a drink. He looked down at his eggs and picked up a small portion of them with his fingers. He grinned and flicked them at Ryan. He knew he was immature.

Ryan snorted and blinked a few times. He removed the egg from his shirt and chuckled before flicking some salt at Brendon. Then he looked at Brendon with a smug grin.

Brendon laughed and brushed the salt off of himself. He loved when Ryan was playful. He finished off his bacon and cleared his dishes, placing them in the sink and rinsing them off. He headed towards the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. When he looked in the mirror he noticed his hair was a greasy mess. "Ry?" He yelled from the hall. "Do you need the shower?"

Ryan finished off his bacon and washed his dish. "Yep." He announced to Brendon. "I haven't showered in like three days."

"Alright." He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head like a dog. He went back to the bedroom to gather the discarded clothing from the night before, and put it into the washer while it was still running. He looked under their bed to find his favorite black vest, and decided to change into it. He found a clean button-up burgundy shirt, and changed into it. He slipped on the vest and a pair of thin black and grey pinstripe pants and looked in the mirror. Announcing himself ready, he threw the laundry into the wash and returned to the living room that connected to the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 4

Ryan hummed his little tune to himself as he went to the bathroom, stripped off his clothes and took a short shower. The warm water helped him break out of his morning haze to get all fresh and clean. When he was done he dried off good and got dressed again. His hair was still a little damp, so he combed it back and ran his fingertips over the accumulated scruff he had going on. Ryan was too lazy to shave right now, but maybe when they came back home from the studio he would. He felt better not being so greasy. The fog slowly dispersed from the bathroom mirror as he stepped out of the bathroom.

Brendon heard Ryan leave the restroom, so he went to greet him in the hall. "Feel better?" He played with Ryan's damp hair.

"Yes. Much better." Ryan smiled and mischievously pat Brendon's butt as he walked by. He went to the bedroom and looked around to find his notepad. He'd vaguely remembered writing something down in the middle of the night. But he couldn't recall if he was sure.

Brendon was caught off guard by Ryan's wandering hands. He didn't usually see this behavior from him, when he was sober at least. He definitely couldn't complain over it though. He looked at the open bathroom door, pondering on if he should shower or not. He peaked into the bedroom "What time do we have to leave?" He questioned, hoping he'd have time.

"Like a half hour." Ryan replied from the other room. When he finally found his notebook he saw it was right open to last night's scribblings. It was titled _Behind The Sea_ and was only mostly legible. Ryan read it through and realised just how high he'd been. But it had turned out quite nicely.

"Alright, I'm gonna hop in the shower." He wondered what Ryan was looking at, but didn't bother to ask in case it was personal.

Ryan just nodded and tried to make out the words that weren't written so clearly. Some lines made sense, some didn't. He pulled out his pen and started to make a few edits, just rearranging things.

Brendon watched Ryan scribble, deep in thought. He shrugged and walked back to the bathroom, closing the door and undressing himself. He started the water, putting his hand in it to make sure it was the right temperature. He hopped in, quickly rinsing his body and washing his hair. When he finished, he turned the water off and reached for his towel while wiping water from his eyes. His towel... Shit. He opened his eyes and looked around for a clean towel, not seeing one anywhere. He groaned, got out, still dripping, and opened the door slightly. "Ryan..." He called. "Can you bring me a towel?"

Ryan nearly dropped his notepad, being suddenly startled from being snapped back into reality. "Yeah." He muttered, setting down his notepad and pen. Then he went to the closet and grabbed a fresh towel. He went over to the bathroom and handed Brendon the polka dot towel. "Here you go." He muttered.

"Thanks, Babe." He closed the door and dried himself off, then got dressed again. He looked in the mirror at his slightly frizzy, wet hair for a moment, then exited the bathroom with the towel draped over his shoulder.

When Brendon had come out of the bathroom, Ryan was sitting on the couch with his notepad. He was reading the lyrics and humming the tune he wanted the words to be to, trying to see if it all fit right.

Brendon walked into the living room and heard Ryan singing, he smiled to himself. He leaned over the back of the couch to plant a kiss on the top of Ryan's head.

Ryan stopped his humming and smiled a bit when Brendon kissed him. "What do you think?" He asked softly as he held up the lyrics for the new song.

Brendon mumbled the lyrics as he read them. "Perfect." Was all he could say. He'd always admired Ryan's poetic skills.

Ryan nodded. "I'll take your word for it, then." He said, closing the notebook and running his hand through his hair.

Brendon checked the time on the cable box "We should leave soon." He stated, looking around for the keys.

"Yeah. Let's get there before Jon crashes the place." Ryan stood up and held his notebook by his side. He stretched a bit, feeling achy but alright.

"Alright, I'll be out there." Brendon walked out the front door and to the van, remembering helping Ryan out of the passenger seat the night before. He got in, hurrying to start the engine to roll down the windows and air out the hot vehicle.

Ryan came out a bit more slowly than Brendon, but he made it out. He grabbed a peppermint and popped it in his mouth before climbing into the van and setting his notebook on his lap.

Brendon yawned and pulled out of the driveway, driving towards the studio. "Coffee hasn't kicked in yet." He complained, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel to the beat of a song playing on the radio.

"Honestly I could go back to sleep for like a week. No matter how much coffee I drink." Ryan muttered and stared out the window. He folded his hands behind his head and slumped in his seat, taking in the early morning.

"We all know how much Ryan Ross loves his sleep." Brendon teased. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a strip of gum, popping it into his mouth.

"It's the second best thing since sliced bread." Ryan mumbled and sucked on the peppermint in his mouth. “But only because you're the first best thing.” He added.

Brendon adored the little comments that Ryan threw around every so often. He smiled and shook his head, "If I wasn't driving right now, I'd kiss you."

Ryan quirked a brow, straightened up in his seat and gave Brendon a brief peck on the cheek. Then he settled back down in his seat and ruffled his hair a bit as it was getting less damp and more fluffy.

Ryan's kiss left a slightly noticeable wet spot on Brendon's cheek. Not something he would call unpleasant. "That works." Half of his mouth curved into a smile.

Ryan smiled a bit and stared at the road ahead of them. He was deep in thought, then one thing caught his attention. "Bren?" He murmured softly, squinting a bit and furrowing his brows. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Ask me anything." Brendon looked over at Ryan for a moment, a little concerned.

Ryan but his lip nervously, trying to put his words together. "I know it may seem dumb, but... Do you think animals have souls?" He breathed. "I mean... Like people do..." He asked nervously.

Brendon was a little confused by the question, wondering what inspired Ryan to ask. "I mean, I'm sure everything that's alive has a soul. If a soul is what it's made out to be." He replied, trying to make sense.

Ryan tilted his head a bit and squinted a little more. "But do you think plants have feelings?" He added. "Like, when you're just stepping on grass, does it feel pain? If plants had voices, what would they say? Is sap, nectar and chlorophyll basically plant blood? If plants have souls then by killing them are we taking a valued life? I just... I don't know." Ryan blurted out all in one jumble. Then he shook his head, feeling really dumb. "Nevermind." He muttered.

"No, Ry it's fine you can talk to me." He reached over to hold Ryan's hand. "Plants can't feel pain, they don't have a nervous system. Souls, though, I'm not sure." He thought about it, "But I'd like to imagine millions of little grass blade ghosts flying around."

Ryan snorted and went red in the face trying not to bust out laughing. "Oh god I'd be so cursed." He chuckled and held Brendon's hand.

"Our house would be haunted. Remember when I tried gardening?" Brendon laughed at himself, remembering the time he'd killed an entire flowerbed within a week.

Ryan opened his mouth to speak, but then paused and his eyes widened a bit. "Oh shit this explains so much." He muttered and scratched his head.

Brendon wasn't sure what he'd explained to Ryan, but he just assumed he had remembered something from when he was drunk or high (or both). He kept watching the road, making lefts and rights until he saw the studio.

Ryan finished his peppermint and brushed his thumb along the pages. He straightened up in his seat at they approached the studio and did his best to at least try and act perfectly lucid. But that would just be so not-Ryan of him to do.

"Work time." Brendon murmured, pulling himself out of the driver's seat. He waited for Ryan to get out to lock the doors, then opened the door to the studio to see Spencer. "You're here early."  
  
Spencer was enjoying a cup of coffee in the studio, waiting for everybody else to arrive so they could start recording. "Morning, Bren." He smiled and scratched his cheek.

Ryan got out of the van and closed the door, holding his notebook by his side and entering the studio following Brendon. "Hey, Spence." He greeted. "Wow. You are here early. There's a first." He commented.

Spencer rolled his eyes, but he knew it was true. "I didn't have anything better to do." He shrugged, taking another sip from his coffee.  
  
Brendon straightened the folds in his shirt and began setting up the equipment for later. "Anyone heard from Jon?" He asked.

"Jon died. Now you're stuck with his hellish twin." Jon said, standing up from behind the desk.  
  
Ryan huffed and went over to the guitar rack, mulling over which ones he should use this session.

"Look guys it's Joan." Brendon said, pointing dramatically at Jon. He was still a bit upset from how Jon treated Ryan yesterday, but he knew to get over it.  
  
Spencer chuckled a bit, looking over at Jon.

"Shut up Beebo." Jon retorted and sat back down.  
  
Ryan decided to just go with a Fender for this one. He went over to his space and set up, also standing up a mic.

"What are we recording today...?" Spencer asked, glancing over at Brendon, who seemed to be struggling with setting up his mic.

" _She Had The World_ and _That Green Gentleman_." Jon said bluntly.

"And I've got another one." Ryan chimed.

Spencer nodded, remembering what they'd be doing today.  
  
Brendon looked over at Ryan, "What was that one called again?" The mic stand collapsed in Brendon's hands and he flinched, hurrying to pick it up. "The one I said you should sing in, right?"

"That'd be the one." Ryan concurred with a nod. "Bren, for the love of all that is holy, do not drop the mics. Jeez... But yeah, it's called _Behind The Sea_. It's kind of Beatles-esque. Sort of like _Here Comes The Sun_ but a little slower and my own spin on it. I was thinking of doing just a clean recording on my guitar to see how it sounds. I want it to kind of have that eerie under-the-sea feeling, y'know?"  
  
Jon couldn't quite make sense of it. But Ryan was not a thing to make sense of, he knew this much.

"Sorry..." Brendon lengthened the 'y' on the word, and clenched his teeth nervously. "Sounds sick, can't wait to hear it." He finally got the stand to click into place, and he mounted the mic on it. "Finally..." He murmured.  
  
Spencer laughed at Brendon's clumsiness under his breath, and tried to imagine Ryan's song. "All I got out of that was 'The Emo Little Mermaid'." He admitted.

Ryan blinked a few times, looked over at Spencer, and flipped him off.

Jon was busting his ass laughing.

Brendon carefully stood up the mic on the stand, and backed away from it. When he heard what Spencer had to say he giggled, trying to hide his laughter and failing miserably.

Spencer held out his hand, signaling for Jon to high-five him.

Jon eagerly high-fived Spencer and laughed.  
  
Ryan shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Well soon enough, you'll all be Emo little mermaids. Might as well get used to it right about now." He said as he sat down with his guitar and tried to finish the tune.

Brendon laughed a little at Ryan, then intently watched him play for a moment before adjusting the mic stand to his (short) height.

Ryan had finished the tune and wrote it down in his notebook, transcribing his notes from the other day and put it together.  
  
"Psst, Spencer." Jon whispered. "I think somebody's doing the do with you-know-who." He smirked and nodded towards Ryan and Brendon.

Spencer grinned and nodded dramatically, wheezing a little. He covered his smile with his wrist and tried not to snort.

Brendon slowly turned his head towards Jon, blinking a few times while staring at him. He turned back and shook his head, plugging in the microphone.

Spencer laughed hysterically at Brendon's reaction, burying his face into his hands.

Jon could not stop laughing. It got to the point where he fell out of his chair, he was laughing so hard.  
  
Ryan perked up and paused his activity, looking behind him at Jon and Spencer. "What the hell?" He muttered in confusion.

Brendon looked over at Ryan, rolling his eyes at their immature friends. "Don't even ask."  
  
Spencer was on the floor holding his stomach, coughing from laughing so hard.

Jon was snorting and cackling so hard he couldn't breathe. Spencer's uncontrollable laughter helped calm him none.  
  
Ryan squinted and looked up at Brendon. "How bad?" He mouthed.

Brendon raised his eyebrows and blinked once, looked over at Jon and Spence, then looked back at Ryan. He nodded once.

Ryan blinked a few times, not understanding. But he shook his head and dismissed the subject.  
  
Spencer started to calm down, but he was still choking and laughing between breaths.  
  
Jon tried to compose himself and get up off the floor. Still giggling, but a little breathless.

When Jon and Spencer were calm enough to speak, Brendon asked in a slightly irritated manner, "What was that for?"

Jon smirked and climbed up of the floor, the remnants of chuckles still in him. "What was what for?" He wiggled his brows at Brendon, playing dumb.  
  
"I have no clue what just happened. But I want no part of it." Ryan said bluntly. "Now can we please get back on topic here?"

Brendon face palmed, trying to forget whatever just happened. "Yea, let's just... Get to work. Enough accusations." He glared at Jon.  
  
Spencer held back another laughing fit, and walked over to half-disassembled drum set to finish putting it together.

"Come on, Brendon. There's no point in hiding it. We all know what you _do_." Jon said with a smirk, then bust out laughing again. He was practically wheezing.

Spencer was taking another sip of coffee- that is until Jon spoke. The caffeinated drink sprayed out of Spencer's mouth all over the floor, dripping from his chin as he coughed and had another laugh attack.  
  
"Guys. This is getting annoying. What am I missing here?" Ryan inquired, completely oblivious to all that had just happened.

Jon was hysterical. When Spencer spit out his drink, Jon literally peed himself laughing so hard. He gagged and choked but he was too entertained to care.  
  
"Jesus Christ..." Brendon groaned, throwing himself onto the floor.

Ryan groaned heavily, set his guitar aside and stood up. "That's it. I'm done with you guys. When you're ready to be professional, I'll be outside." He grumbled and fussed as he walked out of the studio, refusing to look at Brendon as he did.  
  
Brendon swore under his breath, "Damn it guys..." He watched Ryan storm out the door, and wondered how he could have made the situation better and prevented this from happening.  
  
Spencer didn't realize what happened until he looked down at himself, then over at Jon, who had a small wet spot on his pant leg. Spencer choked on the remaining coffee in his mouth, and felt the violent convulsions in his abdomen, followed by more wheezing noises coming from his mouth. He leaned against the wall behind him and continued to laugh.

Jon struggled to breathe through his wheezing. He had to practically crawl to the bathroom and clean himself up.  
  
Ryan closed the door behind him and shuffled a few feet away from the door. He sighed heavily and tried to clear his head, it was spinning and spinning and spinning within him.

Brendon was left in the room with a coughing Spencer, which was hardly what he wanted. He looked at the doors, wondering if he should go try to talk to Ry. Normally, he'd say, _"Screw it!"_ but Ryan meant everything to him, and messing anything up even a little bit would crush him.  
  
Spencer finally opened his eyes and saw a seemingly sad Brendon. He knew they'd gone too far at this point, but couldn't think of anything to say. His smile faded, and he looked at the back of his friend's head, who was sat on the floor, holding his knees close to his body facing the door.


	5. Chapter 5

Ryan folded his arms and breathed in the hot noon air. He unbuttoned his sleeves and cuffed them, since it was feeling a bit too warm to him. He always struggled in bands, trying to keep himself together and execute his vision. Without getting picked on was the hardest. Ryan knew behind his back people would make fun of him for being gay, although if you asked him to his face he would never admit it. But was this what was happening now? It had clearly upset Brendon and had something to do with him. He just didn't know what.

Brendon got up, and began walking towards the door. He put his hand on the handle, and hesitated for a second before opening it, very, very slowly. He poked his head outside, and saw Ryan. "Ry...?" He held the door handle tightly, afraid Ryan would be upset at him. Spencer watched Brendon open the door. He saw how timid he was being, and really knew they'd messed up at this point. Jon and him sometimes forgot that Ryan is sensitive to the subject.

Ryan sighed heavily and briefly glanced over at Brendon. "Hey, B." He murmured affectionately. Then he bit his lip and looked away.

Brendon tapped the edge of the door timidly, "You up to talk right now, or do you need a minute?" He asked softly, almost whispering.

"Sure." Ryan breathed and stared down at his feet. He folded his arms a little more tightly and shuffled his feet a bit. He was frustrated, but not at Brendon. Just at how things were going at the moment.

Brendon closed the door quietly and stood his distance, "They're only kidding. It wasn't anything hateful, just uncalled for." Brendon scratched his neck and took turns glancing at the ground, then at Ryan.

"I know." Ryan breathed. "Still though. Jon doesn't seem to take anything I say seriously. Spencer's okay. But I mean, don't they realise I just want the same things they do?" He said in frustration.

It took Brendon everything not to wrap his arms around Ryan. He knew he wasn't in the mood. "I'll talk to Jon later." He closed his eyes, contemplating what he'd say.

Jon had managed to clean up some, but still had a wet spot on his pants. He couldn't care less. "Ah man, that was too good." He gasped out in a raspy voice as he came out of the bathroom.

Spencer looked at Jon as he entered the room, "I think that was a little much." He admitted.

Jon shook his head and waved his hand. "He's a tough cookie, he'll get over it." He snickered.

Spencer sighed, “I know he'll get over it, but _you_ know he's sensitive sometimes.”

"Yeah well sensitive guys don't get far on being all feelsy." Jon retorted. "He can grow the hell up. It was just a joke... Or was it?" He smirked.

Spencer sighed and walked over to the cooler to get a beer.

Jon grabbed a hand towel off the desk and set it down on the chair before he sat. He took a final moment to compose himself and checked the time. "So are they coming in or what?" He grumbled gruffly.

Ryan clenched his jaw. "It's fine. It's just... Whatever." He breathed. Then he looked over at Brendon and relaxed some. "You ok?" Ryan asked softly.

Brendon nodded, still looking at the ground. "Just want you to be happy." He put his hands in his jean pockets and smiled nervously.

"You had a right to be mad, they were being asses." He looked into Ryan's eyes. "C'mere." He caved in, opening his arms for a hug.

Ryan smiled a bit and pulled Brendon close for a tight, warm hug. He buried his face in his hair and breathed in Brendon's _Brendon_ smell. He liked that smell.

Brendon rubbed Ryan's upper back and neck with one hand, and wrapped the other him. "Love you." He whispered into Ryan's ear. "We should probably get inside, though." He paused, "I mean if you're ready."

Ryan nodded and broke away from the hug. "Yeah." He muttered and took a breath. _Have some composure, where is your posture?_ Ryan reminded himself before walking back in.

Brendon followed Ryan inside, hoping Jon and Spence had regained their sanity.

Spencer looked at Jon, warning him not to say anything to upset the couple.

Jon kept his mouth shut. Occasional awkward glances at Spencer, but saying nothing yet.

Ryan went over to his area and prepared himself. "We're going to record _That Green Gentleman_ now." He said firmly, not wanting to open any ends for joking or teasing.

Brendon gave a thumbs up, and headed towards his mic. "Let's do this." He said.

Ryan started recording and opened up with his guitar riff, using the pickups to filter it to the sound he liked. Jon waited for his part.

Spencer began drumming when needed, sticking his tongue out a little in concentration.

The music cleared Brendon's mind, he took a deep breath. He began singing, _"Things are shaping up to be pretty.odd..."_

Jon joined in on his part.

Ryan played along, filtering his pickups and singing in the background where need be.

* * *

The second to last recording finished, Brendon stepped back from the mic. "We just have _Behind The Sea_ left for today. I don't think we'll learn it all by five o’clock though." He sighed. "Pass me a beer, Spence?" He asked, looking at the cooler.

Spencer was standing by the ice chest. He reached in and tossed a can to Brendon, watching him catch and open it.

Jon smirked a bit because he knew Brendon still had a month to go before he was of legal age to drink. But they still let him have it anyway. He was close enough, right?

"That's fine." Ryan squeaked. He rubbed his head in slight exhaustion. "We could do it another day..."

"That works too. Do you guys want do go grab a bite to eat tonight?" Brendon asked, taking a sip of his drink, making a refreshed _"ahh"_ sound after he swallowed.

Spencer clicked his tongue a few times, thinking over the option. "I'm up for it." He finally decided.

Jon stretched out and turned off his bass. "Hell yeah."

"Count me in." Ryan agreed. He sure to turn off the mics and guitar. Double, triple checking.

Brendon looked at everybody turning off their equipment and did the same. Even unplugging and disassembling the stand to make sure. "Cool. Where'll it be?" He took another drink and realized he'd already drank almost half of the beer.

Spencer shrugged, "I'm fine with anywhere."

"A new club opened up just down the street from here." Jon said with a smirk.

"That's a twenty one and up club, Jon. Ask again after April 12th." Ryan sighed.

"Or September 2nd." Spencer added while grinning. He held up a can of beer carelessly.

Brendon rolled his eyes. "Yeah, unfortunately they're a _little_ more strict than us."

"Sorry, Brendon. No naked ladies until you’re _twenty-one_. The _U.S._ of _A._ says so." Jon said pointedly.

"There's a place in the Vinetian that's got some pretty good pizza." Ryan suggested.

"We could just film a video like _But It's Better If You Do_ again." Brendon sarcastically suggested. "But for now pizza will have to do."

Spencer agreed, "Pizza sounds good."

"I'll drive." Jon offered.

Ryan put his guitar back on the rack and then ran his head through his bowl-cut curly brown hair. "Let's give it a go." He said, feeling rather elated at the suggestion.

Brendon tossed the keys to Jon and finished off the last few sips of his beer. He looked over at the cooler, thinking about bringing another for the drive.

Jon caught the keys and put on his jacket.

Spencer looked at Brendon, remembering how it went last time Brendon had too much to drink. He looked at Ryan. "He's not gonna listen to me, but you might want to limit him." He said, glancing at Brendon.

Ryan looked over at Spencer, then Brendon, and back at Spencer. "He'll be fine. I'll watch him." He shrugged.

Spencer nodded, knowing Ryan was responsible. He looked over at Brendon, who seemed to be shuffling closer to the ice chest.

Brendon stepped over to the cooler to grab another beer. "Is everyone ready?" He asked, looking around the room to make sure he didn't forget anything.

Ryan nodded. "Yep." He said softly, taking note of Brendon having yet another beer. "How many drinks have you had today, Bren?" Ryan inquired.

"Not enough." Jon joked. "Come on, guys." He said as he headed out of the studio.

"I've only had two... So far." He smirked and nudged Ryan's arm with his elbow. Brendon started walking towards the door.

Spencer followed. "Don't encourage him, Jon." He said playfully.

 _"Shots! Shots! Shots shots shot shots! Everybody!"_ Jon chanted, just to piss off Spencer. "Really though. We should get him totally drunk and then have him give a history lesson.”

"Let's not." Ryan said bluntly as he went out of the studio.

"I agree," Brendon said, cracking open the beer as he walked to the van. "That is a great idea."

Spencer kept quiet for a moment. "As hilarious as that would be, I don't think it's a great idea." He finally replied.

"It could be about a band or something. Imagine it... Drunk history of My Chemical Romance, drunk history of- of Fall Out Boy!" Jon exclaimed. "Oh god, we gotta tell Pete. That would be perfect." He gushed as he went over to the van.

"Spencer's right. If you get intoxicated you could die." Ryan said as he climbed into the van. "I'd like to keep Brendon alive, thank you for your suggestions. We'll just let him enjoy his Caprisuns for now."

"Actually a Caprisun sounds good..." Brendon spilled a small amount of beer on the floor as he entered the van, sitting in the back.

Spencer claimed the passenger seat, "Shotgun!" He said, half joking.

Ryan strapped in next to Brendon and sighed, looking over at the spilled beer. "We aren't even there yet, you've only had two drinks and you're already ditzy." He clicked his teeth and shook his head in mock-disappointment.

Jon started up the van and pulled out of the parking lot. "By Caesar's Palace, yep?" He inquired, Ryan nodded.

Brendon shrugged, looking over at Ryan. He smiled at him, then took another sip.

Spencer glanced over his shoulder at Brendon, hoping there wouldn't be a repeat of the previous incident. "Brendon, do you even remember what happened last time you got drunk?"

Brendon pondered for a moment. "Is that when we were at the beach? Oh yeah I remember that..."

Ryan pursed his lips and stared down at the floor. "I wish I didn't remember that." He muttered under his breath.

"Up until that point, we all feared Brendon would be an exotic dancer. In that moment, we knew we were right." Jon laughed.

"He probably would have done that when he was sober anyways, to be honest." Spencer joked, thinking about it.

"Hey, I may be an idiot, but I'm not _that_ much of an idiot." Brendon defended himself, but knew it was partially true.

"I'll tell you what makes _me_ sweat." Jon said suggestively and smirked. "Livin' up to the Vegas reputation, as you do."

"Oh my god _that's_ what you were saying earlier?" Ryan practically gagged and looked up at the rear view mirror. "Jeez. You guys are nuts."

Spencer remembered his coffee and Jon's accident and chuckled, looking over at Jon.

Brendon rolled his eyes and kicked the back of Spencer's seat a little.

"Butt naked... Doing unspeakable things with floaties..." Jon chimed and snorted. Then he busted out laughing.

"Oh god." Ryan sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

Brendon covered his face with his hands, "Don't talk about the floaties..."

Spencer was disgusted by the memory of the floaties, but thinking back on it now was utterly hilarious. He started laughing. Without any coffee in sight, he should be fine.

Ryan's face went beet red and he closed his eyes.

Jon tried to focus on the road. But he was in a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"I will never look at a floaty the same again," Spencer managed to gasp between breaths.

"Don't act like you two haven't done stupid shit while drunk before!" Brendon complained. Trying to change the subject, he asked, "So what is this place called that we're going to?"

Spencer turned around, wiping his eyes of tears. "Don't you even try that, we're still talking about this!"

Thank goodness Jon pulled up to a stoplight. He was laughing way too hard. "Brendon and floatie sitting in a tree. _F-U-C-K-I-"_

"Okay guys that's enough." Ryan grumbled and shoved the back of Jon's seat.

"Brendon was in puppy love!" Jon couldn't stop. His eyes were misty and his gut churned. He was wheezing.

"Jonnnnnn..." Brendon groaned, hitting his head against his headrest like a child, spilling more beer.

Spencer managed to compose himself a little, letting out a wheeze every few seconds but not nearly as much as Jon.

Jon was able to compose himself enough to continue driving. But he was breathless. He tried to continue speaking, but it just came out all jumbled and spluttery.

"Remind me why we're friends?" Ryan muttered to no one in particular.

Brendon looked down and realized his seatbelt wasn't on. He quickly buckled himself. "Let's just forget that ever happened." He finished off his drink and crushed the can, throwing it somewhere.

"You know you love us, Ryan. Or... At least Brendon." Spencer said, then elbowed Jon's shoulder.

Jon nearly gagged and wheezed so hard. "He loves Brendon's dick!" He cracked up uncontrollably.

Ryan sighed heavily and pursed his lips. "I hate you guys." He said sarcastically.

Brendon squinted his eyes and looked around for the can he threw. When he saw it on the ground by Ryan's feet he stretched across the car to grab it, throwing it at Jon.

Spencer choked on his saliva, coughing and snorting at Jon's filthy sense of humor.

Ryan groaned and stared out the window in exasperation. How did he get friends like this? No clue.

Jon was snorting and cackling. "Ow," he giggled as the can hit him in the head. He chuckled and wheezed but settled down some. "You _know_ it's true... _You know it's true_."

"But you don't need to talk about it," Brendon slurred, leaning forward in his seat.

Spencer wheezed again, "You literally just admitted it, Bren." He wiped the tears from his eyes again.

Ryan gagged. "Shit." He choked out.  
  
Jon couldn't laugh anymore. He was completely out of breath. "Oh man. That's too good." He wheezed.

Brendon realized what he did and put his face into his hands, cursing under his breath.  
  
Spencer coughed violently, trying not to puke from the intensity of his laughing. "You guys are gonna make me throw up all over the car." He managed to say between sputters.

Ryan leaned forward and whispered in Jon's ear, "Don't make me say it." He said threateningly, then slumped back in his seat.  
  
Jon settled down and tried to contain himself. He was red all over and would snort every now and then. But he knew he'd crossed his limit for the day.

Brendon looked up at the car roof and squinted his eyes. "Ryan are we almost there? I have to pee." He asked.

"Not even close." Jon smirked and continued down the road.  
  
Ryan sighed and looked over at Brendon. "How bad?" He asked softly.

"I dunno, I can hold it." Brendon was feeling restless, and started fidgeting with the lint on the seats. "Is there anything in here I can do? I forgot to take my meds today and I feel like I could run a marathon."  
  
Spencer covered his mouth, spitting through his lips, trying to resist his temptation to make a joke that Brendon had run himself directly into.  
  
"Why are you laughing?!" Brendon asked, beginning to get irritated.

Jon started to wheeze again and mimicked Spencer's actions.  
  
"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, _**no!**_ " Ryan grumbled and glared at Spencer.

"I'm just gonna stop talking." Brendon declared, starting to feel a little self conscious about his impulsive personality. He crossed his arms and looked down, slouching in his seat.

"Do you need some milk?" Jon choked out and snorted really loudly.  
  
Ryan tried his best to ignore Jon. "Are there any nearby exits?" He inquired and looked around, although there seemed to be none in sight.

Spencer wheezed and wiped his nose of whatever happened to come out after the convulsion.  
  
Brendon was completely done at this point. He unbuckled his seatbelt and slid into the center seat to be closer to Ryan.

Jon picked up the can Brendon had thrown at his head, cackling a bit as he did, and tossed it to the backseat. "If you need to go, here you go." He bit his lip and chuckled.  
  
"Sorry." Ryan murmured to Brendon and put his arm around him.

Brendon leaned his head on Ryan, feeling comforted. He glanced at the can as it flew by, not saying anything. He understood how Ryan felt earlier.

Ryan nuzzled into Brendon's hair and ignored Jon's continuous murmuring of dirty jokes. Ryan gave his Brendon a soft kiss on his forehead and caressed the back of his hand. He tried to comfort Brendon the best he could in the moment.

Brendon smiled and started dozing off. His eyes felt heavy, and he fought to keep them open. He wasn't sure where the sudden loss of energy came from.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryan looked up as they finally approached the street the pizza place was. "Almost there, B." He said softly.

"Has he peed his pants yet?" Jon inquired teasingly and nudged Spencer with his arm.

Spencer chuckled and looked back at Brendon, who seemed to sleeping, and drooling on Ryan's arm.

Ryan smiled a bit, wondering what the hell to do about this. He wiped Brendon's drool with the sleeve of his shirt and ruffled his hair.

Jon pulled up to the pizza place, parked and then turned around to look at Ryan and Brendon in the backseat. "Looks like somebody's opted out on us." He said with a smirk.

Brendon reacted to the vehicle stopping and blinked twice, looking around. He took a deep breath and sat up, his eyes still half closed.

"Wakey wakey. Pizza breaky." Jon chuckled.

Ryan rubbed Brendon's shoulder. "Feelin' sleepy?" He cooed.

"Have a good nap Sleeping Beauty?" Spencer teased.

Brendon nodded at Ryan, "A little sick too." He had taken notice of his stomach aching. "Let's get this over with." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes and trying to ignore the pain.

Jon just smugly shook his head and exited the van.

Ryan paused and kinda felt for Brendon. But he climbed out of the van and reached in to help Brendon out.

Brendon stumbled out of the van, struggling to stand up. He hobbled towards the large glass doors of the pizza place.

Spencer followed, slightly concerned for Brendon. "No more beer?" He joked.

Brendon looked over and smirked. "More beer." He replied. He wasn't lame, and walking around seemed to help the pain go away.

"There's no way in hell you could possibly get drunk on two beers." Ryan muttered and followed after Brendon.

"He needs some milk." Jon cackled and followed.

"I'm not drunk, just tired. And hungry. And shut the hell up Jon."

Spencer started cracking up in the parking lot. "We're ordering him chocolate milk and getting him a kids' menu."

"He' gonna get that anyway. Everybody thinks he's a teenage girl." Jon cackled as they walked into the pizza place.

Ryan stepped up to the front and asked the woman to reserve a table for four.

"And one kids' menu!" Spencer chimed in, trying his best not to laugh.

Brendon rolled his eyes and looked around. He thought about taking a few bites of pizza then going back to the van to sleep until the rest of them finished their food. His stomach was still bothering him. He figured it was the salsa and chips he'd snacked on instead of having a full lunch.

The waitress grabbed the menus and gestured for the four to follow.

Jon went forward and followed the woman to the table.

Ryan went over to Brendon with a look of slight concern on his face. "The bathroom is over there in you need to... Y'know..." He said, gesturing to the left.

Brendon looked to the left and nodded, "In that case, I'll be right back." He fell back from the group in walked over to the bathroom and to a urinal.

Spencer sat down at the booth when they arrived at their table, sliding a menu towards himself as the waitress passed them out.

Ryan sighed and went over to the table, sitting across from Jon who was sitting right next to Spencer.

"Hello. I'm Sarah and I'll be your waitress today." The woman said with a giddy smile, pulling out a pencil and paper. "Could I get you started with some drinks?"

Spencer took his chance and spoke first, "I'll have a water, and we'll have some milk for our friend." He gestured at where Brendon would sit and smirked.

Brendon finished in the bathroom and looked in the mirror while washing his hands. He fixed his messy hair and rinsed his face off in the sink, before beginning to walk back to the table.

"I'll have a coke." Ryan murmured and looked at his menu. He didn't really care much for Spencer's comment, or the kids' menu in front of Brendon's seat.

Jon smirked and cackled a bit at Spencer's comment. "I'll have a Fanta."

Sarah nodded and scribbled it all down on her notepad. "I'll be back!" She gushed and went off, nearly bumping into Brendon as she went. "Oops, sorry!" She squealed.

Brendon flinched and looked back at the waitress as she walked back to the kitchen. He sat down next to Ryan. He looked at Spencer and Jon, who seemed to be snickering. He paused for a moment, staring at them "Did you order me a drink...?" He asked, looking at the menu.

"Yep." Spencer said, picking up his own menu and beginning to look through the different types of pizza. "Hope you like milk." He said, snorting a little at his own comment.

Brendon rolled his eyes.

"You know he doesn't get it, right?" Ryan said bluntly. Then he turned to Brendon. "What's good?" He asked, scanning the menu.

"I'll look it up later. I'm curious." He said, pointing to a picture of a pepperoni and olive pizza. "What about this?" He asked Ryan.

"I'll tell you what I'd like." Jon said aloud. "I'd like Patrick to shove his fedora up my ass!" He snorted.

Spencer tried to contain himself since he was in public, burying his face into his arms on the table and laughing.

Jon looked over at Spencer and cackled like a wild duck.

"Looks good. We could get a large and split it?" Ryan suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Brendon agreed, closing the menu.

Spencer looked and looked at his own menu. "What are we getting?" He asked, still trying to catch his breath.

"We are getting _some_." Jon said suggestively and snorted.

Sarah came by and placed their drinks on the table. Giving Spencer his water, Jon his Fanta, giving Ryan his Cola and pausing as she gave Brendon his milk. "Hey... Hey I know you!" Sarah said, all wide-eyed as she placed the milk on the table. She made a few faces. "You're Pete Wentz! From My Chemical Romance!" Sarah said a little too enthusiastically with a toothy grin.

Ryan covered his mouth to hide his smirk. Because yeah, this was funny.

Brendon grinned. "Nice to meet you!" He nodded a little to himself, trying to keep up the act. "Man, I love meeting fans!" He held his hand out for Sarah to shake it.

Spencer was smiling in his glass, not drinking any quite yet, to avoid another mishap.

Sarah eagerly shook his hand, all starry-eyed. "Oh my god this is amazing! I'll have to tell all my friends now!" She exclaimed, definitely getting the attention of a few people around to see what all the commotion was about. Then Sarah turned to Spencer and her eyes got even bigger. "And you too! Oh I know where you're from but I can't remember."

Ryan sighed heavily and closed his eyes, trying so hard not to laugh at her silly demeanor.

Jon was smug the whole time. "Oh him? He's Brendon Urine from Fall Down Boy." He blurted and bust out laughing.

Even Brendon lost his cool a little on that one, laughing for second before covering his mouth.

It took everything in Spencer not to burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "Nice to meet you too," He said calmly, his lip twitching a little. He also held out his hand for the waitress to shake.

Sarah shook his hand and giggled, blushing madly. "What an honor to serve you guys!" She said, batting her eyelashes. "So you ready to order or do you need more time?" Sarah inquired, trying to keep her cool but was shaking with excitement.

Ryan finally chuckled and shook his head before speaking. "We'll have a- Um... What were we getting?" Ryan murmured and nudged Brendon.

"We're getting a Pete Wentz from My Chemical Romance and Brendon Urine from Fall Down Boy. Is that on the menu?" Jon inquired and was nearly busting at the seams.

"We'll have a large pepperoni and olive pizza." Brendon said, speaking over Jon.

"With extra olives." Spencer put in.

"And could I get a Sprite too, please?" Brendon asked, glancing at the glass of milk.

"Of course!!!" Sarah gushed and wrote it all down. Then before she went on her way she did a double-take at Brendon and gave a girly grin. "You're kinda short." She giggled and went on her way.

Ryan took a moment before speaking. "What the hell just happened..." He muttered under his breath.

Jon smirked at everybody. "That's a first." He snorted.

Brendon bursted out laughing for the first time in the day. He put his head on the table and rubbed his face, trying to compose himself. "Are we gonna tell Pete about this?"

Spencer laughed too, resting his head on the back of the seat and looking at the ceiling. "What... Just happened...?" He asked, still chuckling.

"I'm texting him as we speak." Jon giggled and pulled out his phone to text Pete.  
  
"That was so perfect." Ryan choked out and laughed. "Fall Down Boys? My Chemical Romance? What the hell?"

" _Fall Down Boys_..." Brendon laughed, shaking his head a little. For the first time in awhile, they were all laughing together about something that didn't upset anyone. He realized this and looked at the milk, getting an idea.

"That was even better than earlier." Spencer admitted, looking at Jon.

Jon suppressed a laugh and nodded. "Oh man my lungs are going to die. I'm gonna need to borrow Patrick's fifth lung." He said, then read the text. "Pete said _lmao_ I don't know what that means but I think he liked it."

"She didn't even flinch! She totally just rolled with it, the poor girl." Ryan grinned ear to ear and shook his head.

"I feel kinda bad... But then again I don't." Brendon said, picking up the glass of milk. He looked at Ryan. "How much for you to chug this whole glass?" He asked, setting it back down and pushing it towards Ryan.

Spencer smirked. "Brendon, you haven't read it you have no idea how disgusting that is." He laughed a little, but also remembered how horrible reading that story was.

Ryan bit his lip and narrowed his eyes at the glass of milk. He looked to Spencer, then to Jon, then the milk. In one swift 30 seconds of bravery, he grabbed that damn glass and stared Brendon in the eyes as he chugged the whole thing. Right there and then... When he was finished, he set down the glass and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

Jon fell out of his chair.

Spencer and Brendon stared in shock before Brendon started clapping and laughing hysterically. "I didn't think you'd _actually_ do it!" He said in the squeaky high-pitched voice he gets when he laughs.

Spencer took out his wallet and set a twenty dollar bill in front of Ryan. "Wow." Was all he could say.

Ryan grabbed the money and shoved it in his pocket. "Thanks for that." He smirked, folding his arms and leaning back in his seat.

When Jon could finally breath from his mini-spasm, he climbed back into his seat and was red in the face. "That is... The most disturbing thing in context that I have ever witnessed." He gasped out breathlessly.

Brendon continued clapping like a seal and laughing for another minute or two, then finally calmed himself. "That is something I never thought I'd see." He said, putting his arm around Ryan.

"You're welcome." Spencer said, still shocked.

"I probably should not have done that." Ryan muttered under his breath and blushed. "But _somebody_ had to do it." He said in defensive justification.

"First comes love, then comes marriage, then cums Brendon after giving Ryan milk." Jon wheezed and choked on his spit, having made two references in a row.

"Oh we're not getting over this one easily." Spencer said, taking a drink of his water.

"So... should I read it then?" Brendon asked, looking at his friends for an answer.

Jon smirked and nudged Spencer in the arm. " _Ryan was kneeling in the bathtub_..."

"No no no no no I wasn't. Nope, nah, nuh-uh." Ryan said firmly, then turned to Brendon. "And _no_. You will not read it, you will not speak of it and it doesn't exist. _No_." He said, glaring at Jon as he did.

"Ok so I'm gonna read it." He confirmed, looking around for Sarah.

"You'll have nightmares for a few weeks, but we've all read it so I guess you have to." Spencer said jokingly.

Sarah finally came out with the food, sashaying over to the table and serving them up. "Be careful, it's hot too." She said with a wink and a lipstick smile.

Jon stared across the table at Brendon and stifled a laugh.

"Mmmm smells good." Ryan muttered, straightening up in his seat and not quite catching Sarah's comment.

"Too?" Brendon mouthed at Jon from across the table.

Spencer thanked Sarah and smiled, then looked at the pizza.

Brendon figured he'd ask about his Sprite whenever she came back. He took a piece of pizza, burning his fingers a bit, and put it on his plate.

Jon chuckled and buried his face in his hands. His face was so sore from laughing all day long.

Ryan scooped up a couple slices and licked his lips. "Ah, that's delicious." He said after taking a bite.

A waiter briefly came by and put a Sprite on the table. "Here you go, sir." The man murmured before taking off.

Brendon thanked the waiter and took a bite of the pizza. "Yum." He said, with his mouth full.

Spencer grabbed two pieces and sprinkled an obscene amount of parmesan cheese onto both of them, then took a bite. "Cheesy." Was his go-to description of the food.

" _Cheesy_." Ryan muttered under his breath and chuckled. "It is. It's pretty good."

Jon finally was able to compose himself and grab a slice of pizza. He sprinkled some garlic on it, popped it into his mouth and chewed. He rolled his eyes and groaned obscenely loud. "Oh my god that's so good." Jon moaned.

Brendon laughed, "Jon plus slice of pizza is real!" He said, mimicking a fangirl. He laughed at his own joke, then drank about half his Sprite in one drink.

"Oh my God I ship it!" Spencer said in the same voice.

"Oh you guys." Ryan playfully rolled his eyes and grabbed another slice.

"My girlfriend won't be happy to hear that." Jon grinned and shoved the whole thing in his face and beard.

"She doesn't have to know, Jon." Brendon pretended to make a slice of pizza talk.

Spencer chuckled at Brendon's immaturity, and took another bite of pizza, spilling some of the contents on his plate.

Jon almost choked on his pizza. "Dammit, Brendon!" He laughed.

Ryan chuckled and grinned. The cheese on the pizza was all gooey and dripping everywhere, but he tried to remain tidy.

Brendon grinned and took a bite of Jon's pizza lover. "She's mine now." He declared, finishing the slice in a few bites.

"Brendon I swear you're still a child." Spencer said, piling the spilled olives and pepperoni back on his pizza.

"At least I don't _do_ pizza." Jon said and wheezed, wiping away the sauce on his face.

"Brendon will always be a child." Ryan murmured in agreement, Jon's joke going way over his head.

Spencer nearly spit his pizza everywhere. "He doesn't do pizza." He looked at Jon out of the corner of his eye, then at Ryan, then at the empty glass of milk on the table.

"At least I do _something_." Brendon said defensively, raising his eyebrows in Spencer's direction.

Jon saw the opportunity. He took it. "For example, _Ryan_." He said and bust out laughing.

Ryan's jaw nearly dropped and he stared at Jon in disbelief, finally catching on. "Seriously, man? _Seriously?_ "

"I walked right into that one, didn't I." Brendon admitted, sighing and taking a bite of pizza.

Spencer felt slightly offended by Brendon's joke, but could declare himself even with him.

Jon chuckled and shoved some more pizza in his mouth.

"You guys are nuts." Ryan sighed in mock-disappointment and shook his head.

Sarah came by to check on how things were going. "How's it?" She asked, smiling real big. "Enjoying yourselves?"

"Great!" Brendon half-exclaimed.

"Cheesy." Spencer mumbled under his breath, looking down at his parmesan covered pizza and snickering.

" _Cheesy_." Jon echoed and chuckled. "Pizza is love. Pizza is life."

"Glad you're enjoying it!" Sarah exclaimed excitedly. "Call me over if you need anything, 'kay hon?" She winked and touched Brendon's shoulder as she left.

Ryan quirked a brow, but said nothing as he finished off his crust.

"Okay then..." Brendon mumbled, a little uncomfortable.

Spencer looked at Brendon, who was clearly a little weirded out by the waitress. "Yikes." He said, widening his eyes a little.

"There's two kinds of fans." Jon began, fighting the urge to laugh. "The ones that are respectful and keep it at a distance, and then there are the fans that blow on things..."

Ryan was sipping on his cola as Jon was speaking. He choked on his drink.

Brendon snorted and looked at Sarah as she walked away. "I wonder which category she'd go into." He said.

Spencer laughed, "She didn't seem like much of a fan, so I don't know." He replied, thinking of _'Fall Down Boys'_.

Ryan caught this breath and cleared his throat. "I think _hopeless flirt_ would be most accurate." He coughed.

"She _is_ pretty, though." Jon added. "She seems like one of the kind of women you used to chase after, Brendon."

"I don't know." He replied. He had to admit that she was attractive, but he would never think of directing his interest away from Ryan. He took another drink from his sprite, noticing it was starting to become watered down from the ice.

 


	7. Chapter 7

Spencer finished his pizza. "I'm stuffed. Are you guys about done?" He asked, pushing his plate away from him.

"Yeah. I think I had too much." Ryan groaned and shifted in his seat, sipping on his drink to wash it down.

"I'm never done with pizza. Never." Jon shook his head. "But I don't think I can eat much more."

"I'd ask for the bill, but I don't want her to get the wrong idea." Brendon joked.

"Let's get a box, too. I wanna take some of this home." Spencer said, scanning the restaurant for Sarah.

Jon looked around, spotted Sarah, and gestured for her to come over.

Sarah practically pranced over, swinging her hips with every step in her high heels. "Are you all finished here?" She squeaked, pursing her lips and staring at Brendon lovingly.

Ryan was tempted to speak up, but he just tried his best to ignore her.

Brendon cringed a little, but nodded and politely said "Yep! Could we also get a few small boxes?" He played with a straw wrapper under the table.

"Of coarse, darling!" Sarah chimed and batted her eyelashes at him. "Would you also like some dessert? I'd definitely recommend the caramel pudding. It's pretty sweet, just like you." She winked.

Ryan coughed really loudly and stared at the empty milk glass like he was totally dead inside.

Jon looked over at Ryan and resisted the urge to make a bad joke out of the whole ordeal.

Brendon scrunched his nose a little bit. "I think we're good, thank you." He said, not sounding so polite this time.

Spencer just stared, a little creeped out by how she was being.

"Okay, darlin'! I'll get the boxes." Sarah scrunched up her nose a bit, gleefully scampering away, all giddy.

Ryan blinked a few times and made sure she was well out of earshot before speaking. "Please don't tell me you've actually dated girls like that." He muttered under his breath.

" _Brendon and Sarah sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I_." Jon chanted with a smug grin and nudged Brendon's foot under the table.

"Unfortunately, I have." He said, kicking Jon in the leg hard enough for him to at least feel it.

Spencer laughed at the joke, earning him a kick as well.

Jon chuckled. "Shame, shame. Know your name." He smirked.

"Oh boy." Ryan groaned and squinted. "I just... I'm not even gonna go _there_."

Sarah came back over with the boxes. "Here you go, sweetie." She said, setting down the boxes and _'accidentally'_ brushing her fingertips against the back of Brendon's hand. She didn't even apologize. "Anything else I can get for you fine gentlemen?"

"Nothing else! Thank you!" Brendon quickly said before anyone else could talk. He just wanted to get out of this damn restaurant. He put two pieces of the pizza in one of the boxes for him and Ryan.

Spencer could tell Brendon was getting irritated and said nothing, just placing a slice of pizza into a box quickly.

"Okay, baby. I'll get you the cheque." Sarah gushed and went to go bring the bill.

Ryan was madly blushing and staring down the empty glass of milk. "I think I'm gonna be sick." He muttered to himself under his breath. He did not divert his attention from the glass for fear of losing his cool.

"Damn, she's desperate." Jon observed and also grabbed a pizza slice to box up.

"I swear to god if she does that one more time I'm gonna puke." Brendon said, closing the box roughly.

Spencer grinned, "I know how you could prove a point to-"

"Not in the mood, Spence." Brendon interrupted.

Sarah came back over with the bill, but as she was about to set it down she _'accidentally'_ dropped it. "Oopsie." She squeaked and bent over, letting her skirt lift and giving Brendon a clear view of her rear, only covered by her fishnet tights... She picked up the cheque and then set it on the table. "Here you go, cutie. I hope you all have a wonderful night!" Sarah gushed and winked. "Buh-bye!" She squeaked, blowing a kiss at Brendon and sashaying away to the next table.

Ryan could see everything out of the corner of his eye. He put his hand on the side of his face, blocking his perepheral vision and cringing painfully hard.

Even Jon was decently freaked out. "Dude, she gave you her number..." He said, looking at the bill and above it seeing a folded up piece of paper with a number scribbled onto it that said _Call Me! **Sarah <3**_

It took everything in Brendon to not flip out. He put his hand over his face and put the cash on top of the check, reluctantly tipping Sarah. "Let's just get out of here." He said, grabbing his box and getting up.

"That was worse than Ryan chugging milk." Spencer said, looking at Brendon's clearly horrified face.

Jon stood up and smirked at Brendon a bit. "Hmm. I think you liked it." He teased, grabbing his own box.

Ryan felt unbearably awkward as he got up out of his chair. He stared at the floor, refusing to make eye contact with anybody.

Brendon glared at Jon briefly, then stormed out the door. He felt noticeably more irritable than usual, and tried to calm himself. He could feel sweat dripping down his back as he walked to the van.

Spencer laughed, "Jon, if anyone here enjoyed that it would be you." He elbowed Jon as he got out of his seat.

"It's Vegas, man. Who could resist a sweet chick like that?" Jon elbowed Spencer back and started out of the restaurant.

Ryan awkwardly shuffled out. He kept a comfortable distance, letting Brendon be enough paces ahead of him so it wouldn't look like they were together. He swallowed down some vomit that decided to climb up his asophagus. "However many religions there are, I'm converting to all of them." Ryan muttered under his breath and walked out.

Brendon waited for Jon to unlock the doors to the van, and let himself cool off.

Spencer shrugged and made a face, "I dunno dude, that was a little much." He said, shuddering a little bit.

Jon unlocked the van as he walked out. "I've seen much worse. Remember the summer tours? There was one dude who kept trying to grab Ryan’s ass. The poor innocent guy had no idea what was going on!" He chuckled.

Ryan bit his lip and refused to look at Brendon as he went around the van. Climbing in, sitting down, buckling in and trying to process what the hell just happened.

Brendon got in the back seat and set the box in the middle. He buckled his seatbelt and rested his head on the window. "Okay," He started, "So we're _not_ going back there again. Ever."

Spencer complained, "But they have really good food..." And hopped into the van.

"That's true." Jon concurred and climbed into the driver's seat.

Ryan nearly blew up at Brendon. "Alright, it was a bad choice! I'm sorry. What do you want me to say?" He sighed and stared out the window in frustration.

Brendon was startled, "Ry... You didn't know, I wasn't blaming you." He noticed his breathing began to get heavy. He was frustrated with himself again. He never knew when the right time to say something was.

Spencer decided to leave it between Brendon and Ryan.

Jon was tempted to say something, but kept his mouth shut, knowing how Brendon and Ryan could be when they were _both_ mad.

"I was the one who suggested it. Alright? I get it. I messed up." Ryan grumbled and tugged at his hair in a very irritated way.

Brendon opened his mouth to speak, but took a deep breath instead, and closed his eyes.

Spencer turned on the radio to break the silence. The final instrumentals of a song played, then, _Here Comes The Sun_ came on. He didn't think anything of it.

Ryan stared up at the sky as the sunset showed. He bit his lip to keep from saying anything he'd regret later.

Jon pulled out of the parking lot and started down the road.

Brendon looked out the window, not saying anything. He kept his eye on a smudge on the window, trying to ignore the song.

Spencer checked the time in his phone, then tried to make a conversation with Jon. "We're just going back to the studio, right?" He asked.

"Yes." Jon nodded. "Is that ok with everyone?'

"It's fine." Ryan grumbled from the backseat. He stared down at his hands and rubbed his thumb over his calloused fingertips.

Brendon nodded slowly. He pulled one leg close to his body and hugged it, then rested his chin on his knee.

"Yep." Spencer replied, rolling down his window a bit.

Ryan had finally composed himself enough to glance over at Brendon. He took note of his semi-anxious state and then stared out the window again. He was coming to terms with things. Slowly, but surely.

"How many songs do we have left to record?" Jon asked solemnly. "I think we're almost finished."

"We have about five more," Spencer replied, "I think."

Brendon said nothing, he only continued to look at the smudge on the window.

Ryan found himself zoning out a bit. He low key hummed a bit to himself, hoping the noise of the engine would drown him out.

"Which ones?" Jon inquired. "I already have a bass line for _Northern Downpour, The Piano Knows Something I Don't_ , and... Remind me the rest?"

" _She Had The World, Mad As Rabbits_ , and _When The Day Met The Night_." Spencer said, thinking for a moment. "And then Brendon has something I think."

Brendon heard his name and looked up. "Oh... _I Have Friends In Holy Spaces_." He mumbled.

" _Behind The Sea_ , too." Ryan muttered. He leaned against the door of the van and rested his head on his hand. He felt tired from the full day they'd had. Also the pizza stuffed him right up.

"Alright... I'll call the manager this evening. He said the graphic designs for the album have been sent in. He wants us to evaluate them." Jon said.

"Sounds good." Spencer said, changing the radio station when commercials started playing.

Brendon saw the Subway Ryan and him went to the day before. "Alright." He said in response to Spencer.

Ryan bit his tongue and looked over at Brendon. He blinked a few times and stared at the floor of the van. He inched his hand a little in Brendon's direction, but was hardly obvious.

Jon continued driving on. He rested his hand on the top of the steering wheel as he came up to a stoplight.

Brendon turned to look at the back of the seat in front of him. He slowly unbuckled his seatbelt, and scooted into the center seat, still only looking in front of him. He buckled the seatbelt in the middle (also slowly), and looked at his lap.

Spencer watched Brendon in the rearview mirror, and resisted making a dirty joke to Jon.

Jon paused a moment, grinned, and bit his lip. He looked over at Spencer to see if it was okay to go back to being funny.

Ryan chewed on the inside of his lip, kept his gaze down, and slowly inched his hand closer to Brendon's thigh.

Spencer looked over at Jon and smirked, then shook his head. "Give it a minute." He whispered, barely loud enough for himself to hear.

Brendon directed his eyes to Ryan's approaching hand, and grinned slightly before looking away.

Ryan closed his eyes, resting his head on his hand and leaning against the door. He sighed peacefully and finally put his hand on Brendon's thigh.

Jon bit his lip hard and snorted, trying to keep from popping the jokes.

Brendon placed his hand on top of Ryan's, and took a deep breath. It felt like nothing ever happened. No Sarah, no arguing, nothing. He smiled.

Spencer covered his mouth with his hand and chewed on his finger. He couldn't resist any longer. He leaned towards Jon "What are they gonna _do_?" He asked, laughing into his shirt sleeve.

The tension finally broke and Jon bust out laughing.

Ryan ignored the two hyenas (Jon and Spencer) in the front seat and caressed Brendon's thigh. He was feeling kinda dozey so he figured he's rest a bit on the drive to the studio.

Brendon could care less about Jon and Spencer. He looked over at Ryan, who seemed to be tired. He hesitated for a moment, but leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Ryan's cheek.

Spencer was practically howling with laughter at this point. Countless amounts of jokes were flowing through his mind.

"Don't _do_ it in the backseat, boys." Jon murmured to Spencer and cackled.

The corner of Ryan's mouth twitched a little. He buried his face in the crook of his arm and tuned out as **The Beach Boys** came on the radio.

Brendon put his head back and looked at the ceiling. _They really take everything out of context._ He thought, then sighed and tapped his foot a little.

Spencer lost it, he had tears streaming down his face from laughing so much.

Jon was snorting and laughing hysterically as he pulled up to the studio. "We all know what Sarah wanted to _do_ , that's for sure." He snickered.

Ryan felt the van come to a stop, so he lifted his head a little and opened his eyes. Realizing where they were, he pulled his hand off of Brendon's thigh and rubbed his eyes. Ryan sat up and cleared his throat, feeling rather exasperated and fed up with Spencer and Jon's shenanigans.

Brendon tried not to get irritated at Jon, unbuckling his seatbelt. He looked over at Ryan, "Want me to drive?" He asked.

Spencer looked at his own car as Jon pulled up to the studio.

Ryan simply nodded and ran his hand through his hair, feeling pretty wiped out.

Jon climbed out of the van, leaving the keys in the ignition. "We'll have to _do_ stuff like this more often." He said with a smirk.

"I agree." Spencer said, opening his door and getting out.

Brendon nodded and exited the van. He walked around to the driver's seat.

"Later, guys." Jon chuckled, going off to his car.

Ryan sighed and went around to the passenger seat, buckling in and staring down at his shirt.

Brendon sat down and yawned as he buckled himself. He sat there for a minute and thought.

Ryan folded his arms over his chest and looked at the time on the radio. The music was getting obnoxious and disturbing his peace, so he shut off the radio and ran his fingertips over his the growing fuzz on his jawline.

Brendon stared at the steering wheel, then slowly put his hands on it and started driving away.


	8. Chapter 8

Brendon pulled up to the house and parked the car. He unbuckled his seatbelt and looked over at Ryan.

Ryan unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the van. Then he walked up to the door of their house, not once saying a word.

Brendon locked the car before following Ryan to the door. He put the key into the lock and turned it, opening the door. He looked around at the house that was lit only by what small amount of sunlight was left in the sky. Brendon set the keys down on the kitchen counter, then walked to the bathroom.

Ryan closed the door after walking in and immediately went over to the couch, collapsing onto it with a heavy groan. He felt a bit of a headache coming on. He turned over onto his side and placed a pillow under his head. Ryan was worn out for the day.

Brendon looked around, not knowing why exactly he was in the restroom. He looked at the shower and decided to rinse himself off for the second time in the day. He undressed himself and turned the handles to adjust the temperature.

Ryan sighed and turned over into his back, staring up at the ceiling fan as it turned and turned. The room was kind of chilly, as it usually was since they made sure the house had good air conditioning in the Vegas heat. Ryan got up for a moment and went to the dryer, remembering to pull out the bedding he’d had cleaned. He gathered up the fluffy blankets in his arms and brought it back to the bedroom, humming a bit as he went. He later out the blankets in layers from top to bottom. Once he finished making the bed, he passed the bathroom as Brendon showered and he plopped back down on the couch. Ryan stared at the platinum AFYCSO album hanging on the wall and sighed. He was deep in thought.

Brendon ran his hands through his wet hair and let the water run on his face and shoulders. He closed his eyes and thought about the album.

Ryan wondered if the next album would be as successful as the first. He hoped it would. Not that he doubted Brendon, or the other guys, but he doubted whether or not he could deliver. Ryan could feel that even after all this time they'd all been friends, they were growing distant. They didn't always all agree on how things should sound. Especially since Brendon and Spencer were all about the high notes and pop-ish sounds, Ryan and Jon were more geared towards **The Beatles** and other things of similar nature. Ryan sighed and stared up at the ceiling. "I hope this works." He mumbled to himself.

Brendon stared down at his feet, a sudden chill ran down his spine as he thought to himself, _Does he still love me?_ He'd remembered all the things he'd messed up saying or doing. He turned around and quickly turned the water off. He reached for his towel and dried his hair and body enough so that he wouldn't drip. He put his pants on and grabbed his shirt and vest, then exited the bathroom to go to the bedroom.

Ryan sat up on the couch and looked over at the fire place, wondering if it would be cool enough in the evening to cozy down with a fire. He doubted it, but maybe a movie could happen with some popcorn and hot cocoa. Come to think of it, that sounded like a good idea to Ryan. But at the same time, he kinda just wanted to go to bed and sleep.

Brendon threw his clothes into the hamper and went into the living room. He saw Ryan on the couch and walked over to sit next to him. He stared at the floor, then looked up at Ryan. "I'm sorry." He said softly.

Ryan was a bit zoned out for a moment, but when Brendon spoke, he snapped back into reality. "Hmm?" He murmured questioningly. "Sorry? Sorry for what?" Ryan cocked his head to the side a bit and looked at Brendon quizzically.

"Just... Today." He said, running his hand through his wet hair. He leaned back on the couch.

"It's not your fault. Don't apologize." Ryan shook his head and grabbed a pear out of the fruit bowl. The fruit had been washed after he got it, so he went ahead and took a bite.

"I just... I don't know." He couldn't think of what to say. _I want to make you happy._ He thought, unable to say it. He got all choked up and just sat there.

Ryan bit his lip and watched Brendon's expression. "What's on your mind, Bren?" He murmured softly.

Brendon didn't say anything at first, he sat silently. "I don't even know..." He admitted, swallowing and leaning forward. He played with his wrist, twisting it around in his hand.

Ryan definitely felt nervous, but kept his cool. "Was it something I did?" He asked.

"No, no, not at all." He said, shaking his head. "It's me, actually."

"What did you do?" Ryan asked, now completely confused.

"I just never know when the right time to say anything is." He paused, "And all I want is for you to be happy, then things like... Desperate waitresses happen." He finally managed to say.

"Okay well that was a completely unforeseen occurrence. You can't blame yourself for that." Ryan said firmly. "I should've said something. It just really threw me I guess..." He explained.

"It was me she was talking to, I just didn't have the heart to put her down. Then I was legitimately scared and didn't know what to say at that point." He explained, putting his hands over his face after. "And it's not only that. When Jon and Spencer were joking around, I should've said something then, too."

"Hey," Ryan said softly, putting his hand on Brendon's shoulder. "B, look at me. That wasn't your fault, okay? Just let it go. I'm not mad at you."

Brendon looked up at Ryan. He stared into his eyes lovingly and smiled a little. He nodded, then reached over to his shoulder and put his hand on Ryan's.

" _I love you_ , Brendon." Ryan breathed and gave Brendon's shoulder a warm squeeze. "Don't worry yourself. You did nothing wrong. I'm not mad at you." He looked deep into Brendon's eyes, showing his sincerity.

"I love you too." He said. He opened his arms for a hug.

Ryan leaned forward and pulled Brendon into his loving arms. He rubbed Brendon's back and caressed his shoulder.

Brendon wrapped his arms around Ryan and buried his face into his neck.

Ryan nuzzled Brendon's hair and rested his chin on his head. He pat his back and sighed softly.

Brendon tightly hugged Ryan for a few seconds, then let go. He played with Ryan's hair, running his fingers through it.

Ryan smiled a bit and closed his eyes. He always enjoyed the tingling sensation in his scalp when Brendon would play with his hair. It sent shivers down his spine, it was oddly alluring.

Brendon yawned and sat back again. He looked around the room for the TV remote and saw it on the coffee table. He got up to grab it, then turned on the TV. "Do you wanna watch anything?" He asked Ryan.

Ryan leaned back against the couch and curled up some. "Whatever's on that's good. It's your turn, I picked last time." He said softly, recalling when they'd spent the last movie night watching _Star Wars._

Brendon looked through the channels, making sounds as he did so. " _The Princess Bride_ is a good one. Is that alright?" He questioned as he saw that it was starting soon.

Ryan grinned a bit and sat up so he could see the TV a little better. "I love that movie." He had his interest piqued.

Brendon smiled and selected the channel that was playing the movie. "I'm gonna make popcorn while the commercials play. Want any?" He asked as he got up to go to the kitchen.

"Yes. Please." Ryan purred and felt a little better. He liked this movie, it reminded him of the good old days.

Brendon opened the cupboard and pulled out a bag of popcorn. He pressed the two on the microwave and got another bag out. He peaked into the living room to make sure the commercials were still playing. When the first bag finished, he did the same with the second, then walked back to the couch and handed Ryan his bag.

"Thanks." Ryan said, grabbing his bag and popping a couple popcorns in his mouth. "It's been ages since I've seen this."

"You're welcome." Brendon replied, setting his popcorn down on the couch. "I don't think I've seen it in awhile either." He noticed it was getting slightly chilly in the house. "I'm gonna go grab a blanket." He said, walking to the bedroom.

Ryan gave a hum of agreement and nodded. He unbuttoned the first few buttons at the top of his shirt and relaxed. He hadn't had much time like this to relax as of lately.

Brendon opened the door and turned on the light in the bedroom. He looked under the bed for the soft pink plush blanket he liked. He found it and pulled it from under the bed, then returned to the living room. He moved his popcorn and sat in its place, putting half of the blanket over himself in case Ryan ended up wanting to use it. He curled up next to Ryan and put his head on his shoulder.

Ryan smiled and relaxed to let Brendon get comfy on him. He caressed Brendon's cheek and scooped some popcorn into his mouth.

Brendon smiled and opened his bag of popcorn as the movie started. He squirmed to get closer to Ryan, like a puppy.

"You can lay on me if you want to." Ryan offered and turned towards Brendon a bit. He set down his popcorn and was holding out his arms, ready to cuddle.

Brendon gladly inclined. He rotated himself so that he was facing away from Ryan, then put his head on Ryan's chest.

Ryan put his arm around Brendon's middle, holding him close and giving him a soft kiss on his head. He stared down at Brendon and caressed his chest, feeling the soft, bare skin against his fingertips.

Brendon bit his lip and looked up at Ryan. He smiled then returned his eyes to the TV. He watched the opening scene with the little boy and his grandpa.

Ryan got comfortable with Brendon and stared at the TV. He got a little excited at the opening scene. He remembered when he was a kid sometimes his grandma would read to him. Ryan had been quite cute as a baby, so he could relate to the slight irritation at having his cheeks pinched. Thankfully it didn't happen anymore.

Brendon watched as the scene changed from the boy's bedroom to a farm. The boy's grandpa still narrated in the background.

Ryan chuckled a bit at the scene where Buttercup was ordering Wesley around. He rolled his eyes at the cheesy lines and stuffed some popcorn in his mouth.

Brendon took bites of his popcorn here and there. The line, _"As you wish,"_ always amused him. He planned to reference it to Ryan eventually.

Ryan leaned his head against Brendon's and stared down at the remote that was just out of reach. "Could you turn up the volume a bit?" He asked softly.

Brendon smirked. "As you wish." He said, reaching for the remote and pressing the volume button a few times.

"Oop, there it is." Ryan chuckled and smirked. He ruffled Brendon's hair and shook his head. "You're a keeper." He sighed. He cringed a bit when the old woman on the screen was booing Buttercup.

"She looks our old manager." Brendon joked, laughing a little at his own joke.

Ryan actually laughed at that. "Oh shit, she does." He chuckled, then scowled and scrunched up his nose a bit. "I'm sure glad we don't have a manager like that anymore." Ryan commented, shoving some more popcorn in his face, dropping a few kernels on Brendon.

Brendon looked at the kernels that Ryan dropped on him, and brushed them off his chest, giggling a little bit.

"You've got such a sweet laugh, you know that?" Ryan mumbled through his mouthful of popcorn. He swallowed it down and pat Brendon's tummy. "So cute." He added.

Brendon blushed. He looked up into Ryan's eyes and smiled at him. He reached to put his hand on Ryan's cheek.

Ryan looked down at Brendon and smiled as he felt Brendon's hand on his cheek. "My special snowflake." He said with a slight smirk and kissed Brendon's forehead.

Brendon closed his eyes for a moment, then held Ryan's hand. He looked over at the screen and continued watching the movie.

Ryan looked back at the TV, getting a nice chuckle when the bald guy was taunting Buttercup about the eels. "No wonder I'm so afraid of water." He muttered to himself.

Brendon paused for a moment. "He kind of reminds me of our current manager." He said, hoping the joke wasn't worn out.

" _Inconceivable!_ " Ryan joked with a smug grin. "Always yelling. Not even mad, he's always just looking to argue."

Brendon chuckled. "See what I mean? He even has the hair." He took another bite of popcorn.

Ryan nodded in agreement and shoved some more popcorn in his mouth, too. He was feeling a bit tired, but tried to stay awake, at least to make it through the movie.

Brendon looked out the window. "Hey, the moon's full." He said, tugging at Ryan's shirt a little.

Ryan broke his attention from the TV and looked out the window. "Ah. Yeah, wow, it's gorgeous." He said and kinda smiled. He tightened his grip on Brendon some, feeling grateful that Brendon was the sunshine in the sky of his world.

Brendon hummed the chorus for _Northern Downpour_ and stroked Ryan's arm. He began to doze off, his eyes starting to feel a bit heavy.

Ryan rubbed Brendon's bare chest and watched as the guy got poisoned onscreen. Then Buttercup swept off with her long lost love and they retreated into the forest. Ryan pulled the blanket over Brendon and finished off his popcorn. Then he snuggled into Brendon a little more, sensing his sleepiness. Ryan was beginning to feel it himself.

Brendon struggled to stay awake. His eyes would close, then he'd open them and blink a few times, over and over again. Finally, he gave up and closed his eyes.

Ryan looked down at Brendon and watched as he was drifting. He always loved watching him sleep. He looked like a puppy when he did, and Ryan found it endearing. He had an endless collection of pictures of Brendon sleeping in places.

The sound of the movie was soon unnoticeable, Brendon drifted off into sleep, snoring a little bit.

Ryan smiled a bit, sighing a little bit in contentment as Brendon fell asleep. Ryan very very slowly shifted out from underneath Brendon, holding him up and approaching him from the side. He wrapped the blanket around Brendon like a cocoon and picked him up bridal style. He carried Brendon to the bedroom.

Brendon woke up, but didn't move or say anything. When he realized what was happening, he smiled to himself.

Ryan laid Brendon down on the bed and tucked him in, making sure he was all warm and cozy. He softly kissed Brendon on the cheek and gently rubbed his shoulder.

Brendon rolled over onto his side and fell back asleep almost instantly. His breathing was soft and steady.

Ryan decided Brendon was comfy enough, so he grabbed some pajamas and went to the bathroom. He shaved, took a shower, put on his pajamas and quickly dried his hair. Then he turned off the TV and went back to the bedroom, slowly climbing into bed so as to not wake Brendon.

Brendon stayed asleep, shifting a little as Ryan got in bed. He pulled the blanket up to his nose.

Ryan shifted closer to Brendon and pressed up against his back, wrapping his arms around the Brendon's little bundle and cuddling him. Ryan easily drifted off to sleep...


	9. Chapter 9

The sun shone through the curtains onto Brendon's face, waking him up. He opened his eyes and looked around, then shut them again. He didn't feel like waking up yet. His (very strange) dream had been interrupted, and he started thinking about it.

Ryan was sitting at the table in the dining room. He collected a spoonful of cinnamon toast crunch from his bowl and read his e-mails.

Brendon rolled over to see that Ryan had already gotten up, then looked at the time. He groaned when he realized he should probably wake up to get ready for work. He sat up and stretched his arms, then put his feet on the ground and yawned. He sat there for a moment, and saw that he had never changed his clothes from the day before. He stood up and walked over to the closet to grab a hoodie. He put it on and walked into the kitchen.

Ryan squinted a bit as he clicked on a link that someone had sent. He waited for the video to load, then looked up as Brendon walked out. "Good morning." Ryan said softly, then stared at the little buffering sign on his laptop.

"Morning." Brendon said, smiling groggily. His hair was a mess and he needed to shave, but coffee came first. He plugged in the coffee machine, "Want any?" He asked Ryan, holding up a mug.

"Yes. Please." Ryan nodded, then when the video loaded instantly his ears were blasted out. He immediately shut his laptop and cringed hard. "Holy shit." Ryan grumbled and looked completely, utterly disgusted at how loud it had been.

Brendon looked over, slightly startled. "What _was_ that?" He asked as he poured water.

"I don't know, I don't wanna know, and I'm not going to find out." Ryan said quickly, shoving his laptop aside. "That's enough of that." He muttered as he shoved a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

"You're gonna find out eventually when you open the computer again." Brendon joked. He put the coffee grinds in a filter, closing the machine, then turning it on.

"Yeah well I'll deal with it later." Ryan grumbled. He finished his cereal and drank the rest of the (now sugary) milk from the bottom of the bowl. He wiped off his milk mustache on his sleeve and sighed.

Brendon looked over at Ryan and smirked. "Enjoying that milk?" He asked sarcastically, walking over to the table as he waited for the coffee to be done.

Ryan choked on his milk and gagged. He spent a moment coughing and set down the bowl, making a disgusted face. Once he caught his breath, he glared at Brendon. "I hate you." Ryan grumbled insincerely under his breath.

"I love you." Brendon chimed back, giggling. He messed up his hair, then walked back over to pour the coffee.

Ryan grumbled under his breath and shook his head. He got up out of his seat and washed his bowl in the sink. "I'm gonna have to dye the milk blue or something. Now I can't even look at it without feeling a little queasy. _Thanks Brendon_." He scoffed and shuddered a bit, slightly elbowing Brendon in the side.

Brendon laughed as he added the creamer to the coffee and handed the cup to Ryan. "I don't see how it could be that bad. I'll have to look at it later." He said.

Ryan claimed his cup of coffee and sipped on it. Realising it was still pretty hot, he paused for a moment to let it cool down. "It's really dirty, man. Like if you were to collect all the filth from the bottom of the ocean and stuff it in a bucket, it still wouldn't be as dirty as that story was." Ryan winced. "Honestly, I hated every second of it. We've really got some messed up fans out there."

Brendon shrugged. "I've had fans say some pretty messed up things to me before. I'm sure I can handle it." He thought for a moment, then said "It's just a story, right? Like a scary movie, you get over it after a few minutes."

"A month later and it still gives me shivers." Ryan grumbled. "But yeah I _kind of_ liked it." He mouthed to himself, not wanting Brendon to hear about how he _did_ find the fic slightly alluring.

Brendon sipped his coffee, burning his mouth a little. He opened the freezer and pulled out a breakfast burrito to microwave. He stuck it in the microwave, pressed two minutes, then went over to the table to set his coffee down. "I think I can handle it. You, Jon, and Spence all read it and I wanna understand what the hell is so funny to them." He explained as he pulled a chair out for himself and sat down.

"Humph. I think the most disturbing thing about it is you probably _have_ tried something similar at least once in your life." Ryan sighed heavily. "I just don't wanna imagine that."

Brendon smirked. "Now _that's_ probably not a good sign." He said, taking a drink of his coffee.

Ryan shivered and shook his head. "Ugh," he groaned and took a sip of his coffee. He was definitely grossed out with the idea of Brendon doing... Well... Things like _that_.

Brendon heard the microwave beep, and got up to get his burrito. He got a plate from the cupboard and transferred the burrito from the microwave to the plate. Then, himself to the table. Brendon looked at the clock on the wall. "We have like half an hour, right?" He asked as he picked up his burrito to take a bite.

"A little less than." Ryan corrected, straightening his shirt. "We're looking at the designs for the album cover today, too. So we should be there a bit early this morning." He took a sip of his coffee.

"Oh yeah." Brendon remembered the conversation in the car from yesterday. He took a few more bites of his food, finishing it quickly so that he had time to get ready. He went over to the sink to rinse the food off of his plate, then put it in the dishwasher.

Ryan finished off his coffee and rinsed the cup. Then he put it in the dishwasher with his bowl and grabbed a little soap packet from under the sink. He hummed a little tune to himself as he put the soap packet into the dishwasher for later.

Brendon walked over to the bedroom to get himself ready. He picked out a plain grey t-shirt and some dark blue jeans. He slipped them on, then walked to the bathroom to brush his teeth and shave.

Ryan opened the fridge and grabbed the orange juice. He poured himself a glass and chugged it. Then he put the orange juice carton back in the fridge and put his cup in the dishwasher. He grabbed a peppermint out of the cabinet and popped it in his mouth, starting to suck on it.

Brendon looked looked in the mirror and fixed his hair after shaving. He blinked a couple times, then squeezed the toothpaste onto his toothbrush and brushed his teeth. After about a minute, he spit and washed his mouth out, then walked back into the kitchen.

Ryan grabbed the keys off the countertop and fidgeted with it. "Ready?" He asked softly.

"Yep." He looked around to make sure he didn't forget anything, then started walking towards the door.

Ryan headed out as well, then held open the door for Brendon.

"Aren't we just a gentleman today?" Brendon joked as he walked towards the van.

Ryan gave a hum of acknowledgement and locked the door behind him. Then he went to the van and got in the driver's seat, turning on the engine and buckling in.

Brendon hopped into the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt. He yawned and rested his head on the back of the seat.

Ryan turned on the radio as he pulled out onto the street. He turned up the volume so he could hear it a little better. He was just minding his own buisiness when- _"Oh, well imagine, as I'm pacing the pews in a church corridor-"_ Ryan paused a moment and stared at the radio in shock. His jaw almost dropped.

Brendon was lost in thought, he thought to himself, "Hey, this sounds familiar, is this Fall Out Bo- OHHHHHH!" Brendon practically jumped out of his seat when he realized their song was on the radio. He made a high pitched laughing sound and turned the volume up a bit.

 _"I can't help but to hear, no I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words-"_ Ryan smirked and said, "I love you," to Brendon as he was driving.

" _I love you too_." Brendon finished, waiting for the next line. "What a beautiful wedding!" He sang at the top of his lungs, practically yelling

Ryan chuckled a bit as Brendon was nearly yelling the lyrics. He decided to sing along. _"What a beautiful wedding, says a bridesmaid to a waiter (oh yes but), what a shame, what a shame the poor groom's bride is a- (shhh)..."_ Ryan scowled a bit. "Oh man, it's the edited version." He muttered.

Brendon calmed himself for the split second of silence before the chorus, then continued to sing. "I chime in with a 'haven't you people ever hear of'," He decided to stop, since he was still somewhat tired. "Man," He said, "I've never heard it on the radio before." He smiled.

"We made it, man." Ryan said, feeling quite pleased. "I think we should celebrate. Tell the other guys." He suggested as he came to a stoplight.

"Definitely." He agreed as he listened to the song play proudly. He thought about the new album, and hoped the same thing would happen with it.

Ryan kept listening to the song until it was over. Then he listened to the commercial too.

_"And that's Panic! At The Disco with **I Write Sins, Not Tragedies**. Quite a talented group of young guys from Las Vegas that became popular after touring with Fall Out Boy. They instantly became a hit with their sophisticated lyrics and catchy melody. It is rumoured that they'll be releasing an album after a song was leaked Wednesday afternoon. We look forward to more from these boys, up next is **This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race** by Fall Out Boy..."_

Ryan grinned a bit to himself.

Brendon smiled, but was also slightly upset by the mention of their song being leaked. "I love this song." He said as it started playing. He looked around for his pack of gum.

"When I first heard it I imagined a bunch of arms on a racetrack flopping along to get to the finish line." Ryan cringed a bit. "It didn't help that I was high, too. It was freaky."

Brendon wheezed a little, "I'm never gonna be able to get that out of my head." He thought about it, then laughed more. "That just gets funnier the more I think about it." He said.

Ryan bit his lip and nodded, thinking to himself as the song played. "Someone's probably already thought of it. But it seemed weird enough to me." He muttered. "I've definitely been reading too much **Alice in Wonderland**." He mused, looking down at his _Mad As A Hatter, Thin As A Dime_ tattoos on his wrists. Ryan couldn't help it, his mind just went to pretty odd places.

"We all know how much you love **Alice In Wonderland**." Brendon smirked as he pulled the pack of gum out from under the seat and put a piece in his mouth.

Ryan shrugged. "I can't help it. I'm a hopeless dreamer." He said, pulling up to the studio. "I wonder what I should read next..." He mused aloud.

"I should probably read more." Brendon admitted. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Ever read **Invisible Monsters**?" Ryan inquired, pulling the keys out of the ignition. "It's a good one." He hopped out of the van.

"Nope, maybe I'll check it out." Brendon unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the van, then started walking towards the studio door.

Ryan went ahead and unlocked the studio. He shoved the door open and stepped in, turning on the lights and shoving his keys in his pocket.

Brendon walked in and looked around the studio. He sighed and sat down on a stool and took out his phone to see if he'd missed any calls.

Ryan started to set up the equipment and turned on the rest of the lights. He started up the computer and cleaned up the instruments off the floor that Jon had left. He made a mental note to tell Jon to clean up after himself.

Brendon saw Ryan setting up and decided to do the same. He went over to grab one of the microphones and its stand. He adjusted it to his height, and didn't drop it this time.

It wasn't long before Jon showed up. When he did he came in and very loudly announced his arrival. "You sure are early." Jon commented as he came on in. He produced a bundle from underneath his coat and pulled back the cloth to reveal a small puppy nose poking out from beneath the blue cotton. "Look what I just found on the side of the road."

Ryan immediately perked up and glanced over, seeing the face of a small tan and white puppy bundled in Jon's arms. His eyes went wide.

Brendon practically fell down when he saw the puppy. He smiled wide and scurried over to Jon.

Spencer pulled into the studio parking lot and parked his car. He got out and locked it, then started towards the door.

"Here, Brendon. Look at this little beauty." Jon urged, showing the puppy a little more. It was a small basset hound pup. She had tan, brown and white markings. She was squirming in her blanket and she was making whiny noises. Her eyes hadn't even opened yet and she didn't even have teeth. She was crying and squirming relentlessly, trying to move along on her oversized paws and tripping on her ears.

Ryan's heart practically melted. He came a little closer. "Aww, it's beautiful." He gushed. He was smitten. "Is it a boy or girl?"

"Oh my God." Was all Brendon could say. He bent down a little to get a better look at her. "Where'd you find her? Just on the street, or what?" He asked.

"Girl," Jon answered. "I found her just on the curb on the side of the street. There was a cardboard box that said ‘Free Puppies’. I looked in and there she was, all by herself. I wasn't going to just leave her." He explained. The puppy whimpered and tried to crawl out of Jon's hands, but he had her.

Ryan watched it all standing aside. He wanted to come closer, but he was kinda wary of dogs. Maybe something in him could feel a soft spot for this puppy, though.

Brendon smiled. He knew Jon wasn't as intimidating as he seemed sometimes. He looked at the puppy. "You gonna keep her?" He asked, tilting his head a little.

Spencer walked in the door and set his keys down. The first thing he saw was Ryan, Jon, and Brendon huddled in one spot, and that wasn't usually something good. "What's going on in here...?" He asked, a little worried. He got a little closer and saw what was happening. "Oh my." He said, standing next to Jon.

"No. I can't. Cass and I can’t keep any pets right now." Jon muttered to Brendon. Then he looked over at Spencer, nodded, then looked back down at the puppy. He stroked her soft fur. "Wanna hold her?" He offered.

Ryan gulped and watched with wide eyes, but stayed behind Brendon, just for safe measure. He wouldn't want to do something clumsy like drop her.

"Uh, yes. Is that even a question?" Brendon reached out his arms, still smiling ridiculously.

Spencer watched the puppy squirm in Jon's arms. He smiled. "So when did this happen?"

Jon gently had a hold on the pup and he placed her in Brendon's hands. "Easy now, she's fragile." He said softly. "Happened this morning. Five minutes up the street from here." Jon explained to Spencer. The little puppy squeaked and nosed around in Brendon's hands.

Ryan peered over Brendon's shoulder and stared at the little potato-sized pup in his hands. She had little speckles on her nose, a white blaze on her forehead and a round puppy belly. She was utterly enchanting.


End file.
